The Unveiling

August 11th marks the premier showing of the newest in Gabrielle Senza’s "Promise of Light" series of paintings at the Kasten Fine Art Gallery in Great Barrington, MA. On view for two days only, "The Promise of Light, X" will be featured August 11th and 12th, with a public reception on Saturday from 4 – 6pm.

The 6 x 10 foot oil painting was recently completed by the Berkshire based artist in her Great Barrington, Massachusetts studio. "Young trees reflecting in a crisp, calm pond are surrounded by a brilliant golden glow. The morning grove sits quietly just in front of a receding horizon of trees, behind which, the sun promises to warm its way through to a dazzling new day," writes Senza of the tenth painting in the series of landscapes.

The Promise of Light series was started in 2006, when Senza was commissioned to create a 4 x 12 foot painting of the Catskill Mountains for the Philmont, NY restaurant, Local 111. “The quality of light and its effect on the distant views inspired a whole new realm to explore,” states Senza. "Mountains, rivers and trees all became actors in the play that came to life on the canvas, offering inspiring new compositions."

Viewing hours for the painting are Saturday, August 11th 9am – 6pm and Sunday, August 12th 11am – 4pm. Call 413.528.3300 for more information. To see more work by Gabrielle Senza visit www.kastenfineart.com

Recently touted as "The Best Young Artist in the Berkshires Whose Paintings Are Selling for a Lot of Money" in Alan Chartock's "I Publius" Berkshire Eagle column, Gabrielle Senza, 39 was born in the southwest and raised in New Hampshire in a little town near Dartmouth College. "Although I started drawing when I was really little and was often praised for my ability, I was terrified to actually sign up for any real art classes." Senza continues, "I had a disastrous experience when I first decided to try painting. I only had watercolors at the time, and when I attempted to do what I'd just watched an oil painter do, I completely failed. It was about the most excruciating experience I ever had. I swore I'd never touch paint again! It's pretty ironic, isn't it?"

Senza spent her senior year of high school as an exchange student in Denmark. After graduation, she decided to travel through Europe and "jump into life" instead of going to college. She landed in the Berkshires in 1985 and rented her first studio at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield. Within a couple of years, Senza had learned how to manipulate paint for decorative and trompe l'oeil purposes. It wasn't long before she ventured to find her own creative voice through paint. In 1991, at the age of 24 she had her first solo show in New York City at the OK Harris Gallery in SoHo and her professional career was launched.

Today, Gabrielle Senza is internationally recognized as an artist, educator, curator, and writer. She exhibits widely and has artwork in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan Chase, Paine Webber, Lifetime Entertainment, and in private collections around the world. Known as one of the country's preeminent environmental artists, Senza's work has toured cities in the notable "Toxic Landscapes" exhibition organized in 2001 by the Puffin Foundation. She has designed and taught art courses at Mass MoCA, Cooper Union and Simon's Rock College of Bard. She has been very active in community service and a pivotal figure in the artistic community, opening the first alternative contemporary art venue known as SPAZI Contemporary Art in 1989. In 1997 Senza took a year off to live in Rome Italy where she enjoyed a hiatus from her life and responsibilities in the Berkshires, and happened to meet Guido Baratta, the father of her eight year old son, Matteo Baratta-Senza. Gabrielle Senza is the founder and Executive Director of Red Collaborative, the creative public arts initiative that takes on important and often overlooked political and social issues both locally and nationally.

Limited Edition Print Release. Senza has plans to release a limited edition giclée print featuring one of the earlier paintings from the series, "The Promise of Light II". The prints will be available this month at Kasten Fine Art and online at www.gabriellesenza.blogspot.com. The artist is releasing the print in two sizes. A large print featuring a 20 x 40 inch image of the second painting in the series, in an edition of 20 prints, retailing for $2,500 each; and a smaller print, measuring 11 x 22 inches in an edition of 50, available for $1,000 each. Each print will be hand signed and numbered by the artist. Gabrielle Senza's collaborators on the project are photographer Gregory Cherin and master printer Fred Collins of Berkshire Digital. For more information, call 413.717.0031; email gsenza@mac.com; visit www.gabriellesenza.blogspot.com.

Drawn to Nature

Drawn to Nature from a very early age,

I traced raccoon tracks in the sand along the water’s edge

And drank colors from the sky.



Nature has been my mother and my teacher.

Through Nature I found Art.

Through Art, I found Salvation.



- Gabrielle Senza

© 2005

Mold & Millepedes

Sadly, I've given up my enormous studio in Housatonic.
I had to finally face up to the vast amounts of mold that not only was visable on the "weeping" cement walls but also finding its way into my work with the high humidity and puddling water on the floor. . . it was interesting to find in the fine print of my very expensive insurance policy that damage by"water" in any context is not covered.
In addition, I couldn't continue to deny that the environment was impacting my health and energy levels pretty dramatically. . . I'm just grateful I was able to get out of there before the multitudes of millepedes returned for their seasonal residency! (When I looked at the space last September, the floor was practically carpeted with the little creatures that curl up into a fetal position and crunch underfoot. . . truly delightful. They were cleaned up before I moved in, but I always wondered when they would return, imagining they'd be crawling over my feet as I painted away on an enormous canvas. . .

The Promise of Light, III

oil on canvas
48 x 32 inches
2007 © Gabrielle Senza

The Promise of Light, II

oil on canvas
48 x 96 inches
2007 © Gabrielle Senza

UPDATED CURRICULUM VITAE

GABRIELLE SENZA
Curriculum Vitae
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)

2007
"Meditations with Fire" Simon's Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, MA

2006
“Untitled Dialogues” O.K. Harris Gallery, New York, NY

2005
"RADALDA: Rotations: Addiction, Desire & Abuse Linked to Depression & Alcohol" Gabrielle Senza & The Red Collaborative at the Storefront Artist Project MainSpace, Pittsfield, MA

2003
“Between the Lines” organized by the CAC @ Inkberry, North Adams, MA
“Unspoken” Library Atrium Gallery, Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, MA

2001
“Seeing Red” Project Room, Meeting House Gallery, New Marlborough, MA

1998
Palazzo Cerere, Rome, Italy
Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL

1997
Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT

1996
David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI
Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT

1993
“Works on Paper” O.K. Harris Works of Art, NYC
“Industrial America” David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI

1991
“Small Works” O.K. Harris Works of Art, NYC

. . . . . . .

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS


2007
“Women of the SKH Gallery”, SKH Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

2006
“4 Women Standing Nude”, Lauren Clark Fine Art, Housatonic, MA
“Woman: A Self Portrait”, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Chelsea, NY

2005
“Power of Place” Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA

2004
“Think Pink” Benefit art show co-sponsored by the Storefront Artist Project & the American Cancer Society
Breast Health Team, Pittsfield, MA
“Art & The River” Benefit Exhibition, 2004 Housatonic River Project, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
“STREAM Lines” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
“Toxic Landscapes: Artists Examine the Environment” Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences,
Loveladies, NJ
“Stripes” The Meeting House Gallery, New Marlborough, MA

2003
“Deep Listening” Gallery of Modern Art, Marblehead, MA
“Art As Activism As Art” The Meeting House Gallery, New Marlborough, MA
“Love Behind Glass” Storefront Artist Project, Pittsfield, MA
“Expressions: State of the Union” Railroad Street Youth Project, Great Barrington, MA

2002
“Postcards from the Edge” Visual AIDS Benefit, Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, NY
“Phenomena” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
“Paperworks” Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
“EcoArt” The Meeting House Gallery, New Marlborough, MA
“Paisajes Toxicos” El Reino del Mundo Gallery, Bibliotéca Nacional José Marti Havana, Cuba. Organized by the Puffin Foundation.
“Books by Artists” CAC & Inkberry, North Adams, MA
“Toxic Landscapes: US Artists Examine the Environment,” Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck, NJ
"New Digs For The Dog" Juror: Deborah Solomon, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA

2001
“Toxic Landscapes: US Artists Examine the Environment,” international traveling exhibition sponsored by the Puffin Foundation. The exhibition opens in Pittsburgh, PA during the WASTE summit (Nov. 2001) at Chatham College sponsored by the Rachel Carson Institute and the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).
“Paper Prayers Thirteen” BPFAP Benefit, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
“Connections: Past, Present, Future” Gallery of Modern Art, Marblehead, MA
“Postcards from the Edge” Visual AIDS Benefit, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, NY
“Urban Imagery” Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
“Lighten Up: The Benefit” DeCordova Museum's Annual Benefit and Auction, Lincoln, MA
“Contemporary Christian Art” Fox-Martin Gallery, Housatonic, MA

2000
“Human Nature” Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
“PULSE” Barbara O’Brien, curator, Gallery of Modern Art, Marblehead, MA
“Artists Along the Housatonic” Interlaken School of Art, Stockbridge, MA
“Inspired By Rivers” Meetinghouse Gallery, New Marlborough, MA

1999
“A Local Habitation & A Name” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

1998
“The Landscape Revisited” The Putney School, Putney, VT
Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT

1997
“Selections from SPAZI Contemporary Art” Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY
“Genius Loci: Hail Corn” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

1996
“The Alphabet of Trees” Westenburg Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
“Nine SPAZI Artists in Rome” Politecnico Associazione Culturale, Rome, Italy
“Image + Text” The Sage Colleges, Rathbone Gallery, Albany, NY

1995
“The New Landscape” Springfield Museum of Fine Art, Springfield, MA
“Intimate Obsessions” Barbara O’Brien, curator, Cragin Fife Gallery, Brookline, MA
“Painting X 5” Nicholas Davies & Co., New York, NY

1994
“Berkshire Artists Invitational” RiCA, Housatonic, MA
“Wood and Stone and Steel and Bone” Paris–New York–Kent Gallery, Kent, CT
OIA Benefit Exhibition, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, NY
“Small Paintings and Gilded Artifacts” Modern Rarities, New York, NY

1993
“The Post Industrial World” Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA

1992
“Realism/Photo Realism” David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI
“The Big Picture, Paintings in Grandes Format” O.K. Harris Works of Art, NYC
“Small Works” Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

1991
“Life in the Mill Town” SPAZI Contemporary Art, Housatonic, MA

1990
Chicago International Art Exposition, courtesy of the Rosa Esman Gallery, NYC
“Housatonic Artists” SPAZI Contemporary Art, Housatonic, MA

1989
Britell & Senza, Welles Gallery, LCC Award, Lenox, MA

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PUBLIC/PERFORMANCE EVENTS

2006
“Walk Unafraid Chelsea”, UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS NEW YORK Festival, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Chelsea, NY
“Walk Unafraid Brooklyn”, UTVSNY Festival, Take Action Brooklyn! Block Party, Williamsburg, NY
“Walk Unafraid New York”, UTVSNY Festival with ViBe Theater Experience at the Here Arts Center, Chelsea, NY
“Walk Unafraid SoHo”, UTVSNY Festival with ViBe Theater Experience at the Here Arts Center, Chelsea, NY
“Walk Unafraid Pittsfield”, Red Collaborative at City Hall, Pittsfield, MA

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SELELCTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Senza exhibit at Simon’s Rock library offers ambitious agenda in black-and-white and red” Art Review by Charles Bonenti, The Berkshire Eagle, Friday, March 28, 2003, page D4
“New Marlborough artist launches Red Collaborative” by Judith Monachina, The Advocate, March 19, 2003, page 6
“Eco Art: Man’s effect on nature expressed in art” by Charles Bonenti, Berkshire Eagle, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002
“Art and Culture” by María de la Soledad, Radio Progreso Online, Miami, June 27, 2002
“Successful opening for Toxic Landscapes exhibition” by Jean-Guy Allard, Granma Internacional Digital, Cuba, June 21, 2002
“Pair of shows comment on environmental issues facing our nation - and the world” by Kurt Shaw, The Pittsburgh Tribune, Friday, November 16, 2001
“Dog house fantasies at Rockwell museum” Charles Bonenti, Berkshire Eagle, Saturday, April 20, 2002
“Cragin Fife Gallery: Intimate Obsessions” Susan Mulski, Art New England, 1995 Dec/January 1996
“New Berkshire Landscapes” Daniel M. Klein, Berkshire Magazine, Spring 1995
“Massachusetts Milltowns” Gloria Russell & Robin Krasner Cossin, Art New England, Oct/Nov 1994
“From Mill Town to Arts Mecca” Jeff Kantrowitz, The Boston Globe, September 3, 1993
“Montserrat exhibit presents Post - Industrial images” Elisabeth Clark, North Shore Magazine, Feb. 18, 1993
“Exhibit offers look at approaches” Gloria Russell, Sunday Republican, Leisure Section, Sun., Sept. 10, 1995
“Interpreting the Landscape” the Paper, October 1995

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PUBLIC SPEAKING

2005 "Landscape as Inspiration" Artists Talk, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
2002 "EcoArt Roundtable" in conjunction with the Toxic Landscapes exhibition, Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ
1996 “Image + Text” The Sage Colleges, Albany, NY
1992 “Nine for Five” Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA

. . . . . . .

ARTICLES PUBLISHED

“Olivia Bernard: Descent and Flight: Terra Incognita” Hampden Gallery at UMass Amherst. Art New England, April/May 2004, Review, p. 27
“Carolyn Webb and Neal Parks: Shared Elements” A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA. Art New England, April/May 2004, Review, p. 25
“Bonita Sennott: Paintings and Drawings” Center For the Arts, Northampton, MA. Art New England, February/March 2003, Review, p. 28
“Jee-Un Kim: Objects of Subjectivity” S.K.H. Gallery, Great Barrington, MA. Art New England, December/January 2003, Review, p. 34
“Laura Fayer: New Paintings, Patterns of Movement” Ute Stebich Gallery, Lenox, MA. Art New England, December/January 2003, Review, p. 34
“Play With Your Food!” The Family Beat, October 2002, p. 23

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TEACHING/VISITING ARTIST

2004
Continuing Education Instructor, The Cooper Union, New York, NY
Community Access to the Arts Visual Arts Instructor at Valleyhead School, Lenox, MA

2003
Adjunct Professor, “Unorthodox Materials” Simon's Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, MA

2002
Adjunct Professor, “Large-Scale Charcoal Drawing” Simon's Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, MA
Visiting Artist, Simon's Rock of Bard College, Great Barrington, MA
IS 183 North @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA; Painting & Drawing Courses and Workshops
IS 183, Stockbridge, MA; Painting & Drawing Courses and Workshops
Flying Cloud Institute, New Marlborough, MA; “Dirt, Chocolate & Spaghetti Sauce,” workshop.
Meeting House, New Marlborough, MA; Private Painting Classes for adults

2001
Kidspace @ MASS MoCA; “Dirt, Chocolate & Spaghetti Sauce,” a workshop for children and adults on the use of alternative materials in contemporary art and how to use a variety of these materials.
Interlaken North at MASS MoCA; “Blow Up,” a course in creating large-scale drawings in charcoal
Interlaken School of Art, Stockbridge, MA; Painting the Intimate Landscape Workshop

2000
Visiting Artist, Hawthorne Valley School, Harlemville, NY
Interlaken School of Art, Stockbridge, MA; Summer Landscape Painting Workshop at Naumkeag

. . . . . . .

AWARDS/RESIDENCIES/HONORARIA

2004
The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s A.R.T. (Artist’s Resource Trust) Grant
Change, Inc. Rauschenberg Foundation
2002 The Puffin Foundation, Public Interest Grant for The Online Collaborative Revelations Scroll
2001 Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art; Kidspace Honorarium
1997 Palazzo Cerere, Rome, Italy; Private Residency Award
1989 MCC Local Cultural Council Award to fund Exhibition in the Welles Gallery, Lenox Library, Lenox, MA

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PUBLIC & CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Lifetime Television, New York, NY
JMW Consultants Inc., Stamford, CT
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Sackner Archive of Concrete & Visual Poetry, Miami, FL
JP Morgan Chase (formerly First Chicago National Bank), Detroit, MI
UBS (formerly Paine Webber, Inc.) Hato Rey, Puerto Rico

. . . . . . .

SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Laura Stevensen Maslon, Venice, CA
Ruth & Richard Shack, Miami, FL
Alan Lawrence Gargle, NYC
Vernita McNeil, West Orange, NJ
Don & Maggie Buchwald, New York, NY
Thomas F. Parker, New York, NY
Donna & Bill DeSeta, NYC
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Pelavin, Flint, MI
David Klein, Detroit, MI
Robert Poplack, Birmingham, MI
Philip Smerling, Stockbridge, MA
Whoopi Goldberg, NYC
Adolfo & Nichola Doring, NYC
Judith Jamison, New York, NY
Ann Prival & David Greenstein, NYC
Ivan Karp, New York, NY
James Schamus, New York, NY
Deborah Menaka Rothschild, Williamstown, MA

. . . . . . .

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE*

2003
“Art As Activism As Art” committee-curated exhibition, The Meeting House Gallery, New Marlborough, MA

2002
“EcoArt” committee-curated exhibition, The Meeting House Gallery, New Marlborough, MA
“Books by Artists” curated by Gabrielle Senza in collaboration with the CAC & Inkberry, North Adams, MA

1997
“Selections from SPAZI Contemporary Art” group exhibition curated for the Kim Foster Gallery, NY, NY

1996
“Nine SPAZI Artists in Rome” group exhibition curated for Politecnico Associazione Culturale, Rome, Italy
“Image + Text” co-curated by Gabrielle Senza and Jim Richard Wilson, The Sage Colleges, Rathbone
Gallery, Albany, NY

1994
“Small Paintings and Gilded Artifacts” co-curated by Gabrielle Senza and Frederic Cantor, Modern Rarities,
New York, NY

* See also the Blog Post “History of Exhibitions & Events @ SPAZI Contemporary Art”

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WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES ATTENDED

2004 “Widening the Circle” New England Consortium of Artist Professionals 3rd Annual Conference, Open Square, Holyoke MA

2003 “Personal as Political: Struggle and the Expression of Identity” Simon's Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington MA

2002 “Artist Educators” New England Consortium of Artist Professionals Conference, Brown University, Providence RI

2001 Encaustic Workshop R&F Paints, Kingston NY

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RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2002 – Present
Founder and director of Red Collaborative, a non-profit arts initiative committed to empowering individuals through the creation and exhibition of collaborative art projects intended to raise awareness about physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

2004 – 2005
Visual Arts Instructor at Valley Head School, a residency treatment facility for adolescent girls.

2002 Department Head, Lectures and Exhibitions, IS 183 and IS 183 North @ MASS MoCA. Curated “Painted
Words & Artists’ Books” group exhibition, and arranged Sunday Studio Talks by Walton Ford, Karen Arp-Sandel and Richad Criddle.

1997 - 1998
Resided in Rome, Italy. Painting in the Palazzo Cerere, San Lorenzo.

1994 - 1995
Art Consultant for the corporate art collection of JMW Consultants Inc., Stamford,CT

1990 - 1998
Co-Owner and Director of SPAZI Contemporary Art, Housatonic, MA.

Opening Reception and Artist Talk

The public is invited to an opening reception and artist talk by Gabrielle Senza on Thursday, February 1st, 4 - 6pm in the Simon's Rock Atrium Library. Ms. Senza will speak informally about the work featured in the exhibition: MEDITATIONS WITH FIRE, created in the early 1990's with a propane torch and soldering flux.

MEDITATIONS WITH FIRE: The Torched Linen Paintings of the Nineties by Gabrielle Senza

Great Barrington, MA

Simon's Rock College of Bard will host "MEDITATIONS WITH FIRE: The Torched Linen Paintings of Gabrielle Senza" at the Library Atrium Gallery from 22 January through 17 March, 2007. Featuring work created in the early 1990's, Ms. Senza states, "The torched linen series was started as a counterpoint to the series of highly representational industrial landscape paintings I was in the process of creating for a solo show near Detroit back in 1993. Rendering architectural structures in oil paint on steel was very demanding, and the need for a looser form of creative expression was great.

"Experimenting with the basic tools of a plumber (propane torch, stiff aluminum brush and a tin of soldering flux), I blindly engaged in intuitive mark making on torn bits of raw linen. The flux is colorless. The brush is stiff. The image comes to life under the torch. Verging on instant annihilation, the flames give little latitude for deliberation.

"Working with fire gave me an experience unlike anything I’d ever done before. Fire is ultra-life; Alchemy, magic, source, transmutation, destruction, regeneration, life and death. It created a realm of exploration that felt tribal, primitive, primordial: a place for inner exploration and release."