Press Release
William Engel
Painting
Jeremy Silva
Glass Sculpture
December 8, 2016 – January 21, 2017
Skoto Gallery is pleased to present a selection of new paintings by William Engel and glass sculpture Jeremy Silva. This is the third exhibition by William Engel and first by Jeremy Silva at the gallery. The reception is on Thursday, December 8th, 6-8 pm.
William Engel’s work speaks a multilayered language that is at once personal and full of thoughtful inclusion, characterized by carefully organized rhythm of organic forms, mastery of the nuances of color and composition as well as a display of emotional intensity. As an artist who constantly interrogates what he sees, he strives to shape and reshape the basis of his art as well as impress upon us a sense of adventure and discovery. A prolonged viewing of his work is often richly rewarded as even what seems a restful background of his invented landscapes becomes an imaginary charged space of incredible tension in which the planes are subtly but sharply de-centered. His work evokes a poetic intimacy that allows the past to be continually revealed through the present. William Engel is a long-time faculty member of the New York School of Interior Design who has exhibited nationally since 1979 in numerous shows including the Friends Gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He teaches Advanced Color at NYSID, a course that he wrote and has collaborated with several New York interior designers such as In Situ Design, Lilian B. Interiors, Richard Keith Langham, Charles Pavarini III, Robert Kaner Design, Ageloff Associates, and produced commissioned works of art for their site specific residencies in NYC, the Hamptons and clients across the country. His work has been installed in the Corporate lobby of Time Warner on Columbus Circle, New York and in the collection of Shering-Plough Headquarters, New Jersey, the NY School of Interior Design and the William Hotel in Manhattan, where he was commissioned to do seven works for the floors of the hotel. InSitu Design and Lilian B designed the hotel based on his work. His first book Portfolio Design for Interiors, co-authored with Harold Linton of George Mason University is scheduled for Spring 2017 with Bloomsbury London/Fairchild, New York.
Born from a desire to return to one’s paradise is, Honua, Hawaiian for Earth. Honua is artist Jeremy Silva’s effortless attempt to capture the essence of life on the Big Island of Hawai’I and to share its majesty. Jeremy was born and raised in Hawai’I where he witnessed firsthand the dramatic play among land, sea and air. At times, Honua would seem to release a vociferous cry of agitation for the stinging waves against black staccato landscape of volcanic remains, while at other times , the lapping water calmed the blue sun-slumbering shore at which Honua would seem to rejoice in mellifluous serenity. This ever-changing environment had a lasting impression on the artist even after he moved to New York more than thirteen years ago. The creation of Honua by Jeremy marks the passionate return to and pays homage to a sometimes forgotten nature. His pieces come into being with specially selected materials that conjure up visions of island life. The bulbosa air plant with its outreaching arms becomes the tentacles of a mysterious sea creature nestled in coral and driftwood, naked and scarred , takes on the form of a dancing whale. Each hand-blown glass vessel represents the enormity of earth’s power and the fine balance between peace and tumult, organic and structural, the known and the unexpected found in the realms of nature. And each piece is its own vision, welcoming viewers to explore, linger and return, only to explore again.
