Newswise — Some of this country's prominent masters of the egg tempura medium will exhibit their works in "Tempera: Ten," the academic year's opening exhibit in the Arno Maris Gallery at Westfield State College scheduled Oct. 3-27.
Featured artists will be Micheal Bergt and Miranda Gray of Santa Fe, N.M.; Fred Wessel of Northampton, Mass.; Mark Meunier of Florence, Mass.; Koo Shadler of Alstead, N.H.; Phil Schirmer of Rocklland, Maine; Jeremiah Patterson of South Deerfield, Mass.; Carol O'Neill of Fair Haven, N.J.; Scherer & Ouporov (husband and wife team of Suzanne Scherer and Pavel Ouporov) of Lantana, Fla. and Dianne Savino of Hatfield, Mass.
Savino is the show's curator. A 1982 alumna of Westfield State, Savino also helped organize the first contemporary survey of egg tempera in the United States: "Egg Tempera: An Enduring Tradition," which opened at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass., and became a traveling exhibit in 2002.
The Westfield State exhibit is also receiving national attention. American Artist magazine and American Art Collector have scheduled profiles of "Tempera: Ten," Savino said.
"Many of the artists in this show are nationally known," Savino said. "They bring the best of the tempera world to a collegiate arena and teach the students, as well as the surrounding community a whole new way of approaching this medium."
The show is accompanied by text documenting the history of egg tempura, courtesy of Koo Schadler. The exhibit offers an opportunity to travel back in time to the Renaissance and to learn how an egg tempera painting is constructed. "It is rare for these artists to exhibit together and rarer to have a show that focuses on this ancient medium," Savino said. "Each artist has his or her distinctive style and yet, shares this visual vernacular."
Faith Lund, curator of Arno Maris Gallery, said the exhibit both re-examines the early Renaissance techniques and shows how they are applied with contemporary flair.
"The number "ten" was the Pythagorean symbol of perfection and completeness," Lund said. "Ten is a perfect number of artists for this exhibit and these tempera masters' paintings have something to teach tenfold."
An opening reception is 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3. A gallery talk by artist Jeremiah Patterson is set for 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19. The gallery, in the Ely Campus Center, is open from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, contact the gallery at (413) 572-5236.
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