New Opening at Stockman Gallery
By Editor at January 8, 2024 | 8:15 am | Print
“David Holzman: From the Book of Umm” opens with a reception on Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 5-7 p.m. at New Britain’s downtown Stockman Gallery 19 Chestnut Street. Holzman has shown his work extensively, but with this exhibition will be explicitly revealing the process that is at the heart of his art.
Exhibition curator Melanie Carr remarked: “In working with David Holzman, I am reminded of the importance that process is to a maker. Holzman’s magical, serial imagery is a true investigation of an original visual vocabulary. He brings primal, formal, imagery to life and his work embodies an impulsive spontaneity. His comfort with his materials is evident through his entire body of work.”
Holzman refers to his “automatic drawing, meaning a way of art making where conscious control is suspended and eyes are temporarily closed while drawing.” Since 2011 a series of small watercolor/gouache paintings called the “Book of Umm” has been the focus of Holzman’s process. In 2013 “The New Shapes” became a parallel stream for Holzman and he began using vector graphics in the form of Adobe Illustrator and the IPAD app Inkpad. Right now the “Book of Umm” has 849 images. A selection of these will be displayed.
The “Umm” project and related imagery serve as inspiration for larger projects like Holzman’s relief carvings and canvases which have been a standard statement for him since the early nineties and are part of this exhibition. Holzman remarks, “I go back, periodically, to previous imagery and rework, revise and cannibalize. One goal is to accumulate enough work so that every image has a past and a future. By studying my process while being totally engaged in it, I hope to reach a new level of awareness.”
Stockman Gallery is located on the second floor of the Trinity-on-Main Annex and is a joint program of Trinity-on-Main and the Greater New Britain Arts Alliance. Admission is free. Refreshments will be served. There is abundant parking (free after 5 p.m.) on the street adjacent to the Gallery entrance. Regular gallery hours during exhibitions are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or by appointment by calling 860-832-8299 or emailing [email protected]. The Gallery is on the Web at www.HappeningHere.org/stockman and on Facebook.
