Gaithersburg Arts Barn Exhibit (Photos)

The City of Gaithersburg presents an exhibit featuring the works of Dexiang Chen, Natalie Falk, Juliya Ivanilova, and Neil Super at the Arts Barn Gallery now through May 25. The gallery is located at 311 Kent Square Road in Gaithersburg, with viewing hours Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to a free Artists’ Reception on Tuesday, April 15 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Professor Dexiang Chen, also known as Qiyang, graduated from the China Academy of Art (originally the Zhejiang Academy of Art) in 1958, and has had a distinguished art career in China, including teaching at various universities for 38 years. Several of his works have been collected by China’s top art gallery, The National Art Museum of China, and his artwork has won the national first-class Chian Luxun Etching Art Award. In 1980, Chen extended the field of etching art as he invented techniques for plastic board etching. He has held a number of successful solo art exhibitions in Paris, Canada, Hong Kong, and China, and many of his works have been collected by patrons in Germany, the United States, Italy, England, Japan, and Thailand. After retiring from Shenzhen Universities in 1996, Chen has been enjoying a number of pursuits such as traveling as a visiting artist, providing guidance for gifted students, and development of his own art projects. His current art activities are through many art leagues, including China Artists Association, China Association of Etchers Artists, Cite Internationale des Arts Paris, Banff Arts Centre Canada, and Rockville Art League.

Natalie Falk strives to render images that are colorful, compelling and distinctive. She has dabbled in many types of media, but at this time works primarily in colored pencil or oils with the method determined by subject matter and mood. Falk enjoys the freedom that oil painting affords; oil paintings reflect a very painterly technique, while colored pencil requires a more disciplined approach and enables her to render fine detail. Falk has studied fine art for more than 40 years both in school and with private instructors. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Fine Art and a Masters in Art History. After graduation Falk turned her focus to graphic design and established her own design firm, NMO Design. Her works have won awards in several shows including the Montgomery Art Association Annual Labor Day show in Kensington and the Annual Strathmore Artists exhibit. Falk is a member of the Montgomery Art Association and the Colored Pencil Society of America.

Juliya Ivanilova’s watercolors and oil paintings are filled with light and air, and people often refer to her work as “atmospheric.” She mostly works from observation, with her interests ranging from portraits to still life to landscapes, but plein air painting has a special place in her heart. In addition to her life-long passion for art, Ivanilova is a professionally trained architect, with many completed projects in the Washington, DC area. An award-wining artist, she regularly participates in local and national shows and competitions and her works are exhibited in private and corporate collections in Europe and the United States. Ivanilova is a member of thePotomac Valley Watercolorists, Baltimore Watercolor Society, Pâté Painters, Strathmore Artist Program, Yellow Barn Glen Echo, and Montgomery Art Association.

Neil Super is a self-taught wood turner from Shepherdstown, West Virginia. In addition to functional turnings produced under the banner of his company, “Two Rivers Turnings,” Super makes and displays artistic works that have been shown in fine craft and art galleries as well as juried art exhibits. His work was recently awarded “Best in Show” at the Eastern West Virginia Juried Art Exhibit, and one of his pieces will be featured in the May issue of Southern Living magazine. Super uses only responsibly harvested, local wood species in his work. He seeks wood with “character,” which for him can sometimes mean qualities others might see as defects, and he emphasizes the “back stories” of wood that has interesting provenance. Super describes turning as “an excellent means of discovering hidden natural beauty, often in castaway pieces, that is simply waiting for someone to peer inside and reveal it, making connections along the way.” A member of several professional turning and arts organizations, he also teaches wood turning and continues to work and learn in his Shepherdstown studio.

In addition to this exhibit, work by Vian Shamounki Borchert and her Arts Barn students can be viewed in the Invitational Gallery. Borchert is an award-winning contemporary artist who has shown both internationally and nationally in many group and solo exhibitions. Her work is featured in the permanent collections of The National Gallery of Art in Amman, Jordan and The Jerusalem Fund Gallery in Washington, DC. Borchert is a graduate of the Corcoran College of Art and Design and holds a Master of Web Design degree. Her expressionistic and abstracted art illustrates a poetic mood and a thoughtful journey in the world of painting. Borchert currently teaches art classes in watercolor, acrylic and drawing at the Arts Barn and the Yellow Barn Studio & Gallery in Glen Echo, MD. For more about Borchert, visit www.vianborchert.com.

Photos courtesy City of Gaithersburg

Please note that most artwork is for sale, and all images are copyrighted by the artist.

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