The Bridge Gallery is pleased to announce a graduating duo of Shepherd University’s Department of Contemporary Art and Theater will be exhibiting their new works of large-scale figurative female portraits by Morgan Wisniewski and intimate small-scale surreal landscapes and environments by James Graeter. The exhibition will be free and open to the public on Friday, April 20th and close on Saturday, May 20th, with a reception for the artists on Friday, April 20 from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Morgan Wisniewski’s painting series, Reverence, emphasizes the idealization of women through portraying lone female figures within minimal environments or narratives. Within a contemporary portraiture approach, she displays moments of grace or confidence within these women and knowingly enhances minute details in the physical traits of these women. Revering women, or the admiration of their exceptionality is a concept that flows throughout Wisniewski’s work and will be explored further in her artistic career. In the portraits, the women are paused with heightened awareness, left in their unresolved, neutral settings to be quietly contemplated by the viewer while also intentionally admired.

Wisniewski is a double major pursuing a Bachelor’s of fine art with a concentration in Painting and Drawing and also a Bachelor of arts degree with a specialization in (K-12) art education. She is a Promise Scholar and also a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Delta Pi. While experiencing studying abroad in Italy through the University of Georgia Study Abroad Program, Wisniewski has felt an abundance of personal influence on her artwork and her appreciation for the history of art making.

James Graeter’s current body of work, Accepting Our Fabricated Reality, portrays humanity’s fleeting connection with the natural world. These small-scale surreal environments incorporate human’s connection to nature as well as questioning our responsibility and carbon footprint. The works portray human elements and technologies as black, stamp-like silhouettes painted onto the environments to display humanities lack of connection within nature. Graeter conveys his own experiences and his deep appreciation for simple, intimate moments that are often overlooked. Graeter creates a visual observation of the elements of a contemporary landscape in relation to humanity and our technologies in order to illustrate the lack of connection between the two.

Graeter is graduating from Shepherd University with a Bachelor’s of fine arts degree in December of 2012. After graduation, Graeter plans to travel the roads, mountains, and small towns of the United States in order to further expand on his love of the natural world to later incorporate into his artwork.

THE BRIDGE GALLERY is located at 8566 Shepherdstown Pike, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 | 304 876 2300 | Info@BridgeGalleryandFraming.com

Show dates: April 20 to May 6

Opening Reception

Friday, April 20, 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Gallery Hours:

Wednesday Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday noon to 4 p.m.