Rochester Contemporary Art Center
137 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14604
585.461.2222
hours: Wed – Sun 1-5 pm / Fri 1-9pm
admission: $2 / free for members
NEWS RELEASE
for more information contact:
Bleu Cease
(585) 461.2222
[email protected]
April 1 - May 13, 2016
Opening Reception: April 1, 6-9pm
Artist’s Talk: Sat. April 2 at 1pm
First Friday: May 6, 6-9pm
(03/01/16) Rochester, NY Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo) is pleased to announce The Ordinary
and the Divine, a special exhibition of over 40 new paintings by Kathy Calderwood. This show is Calderwood’s
largest solo exhibition in over 20 years and includes the latest paintings from her ongoing projects The Hall
of Suitors and Paramours and The Sacramental Objects. The exhibition will also include one painting from
her series of Family Festoons. Calderwood draws upon her observations, relationships past and present, and
everyday experience in the creation of her work.
Bleu Cease, Executive Director/Curator said, “I have been a huge fan of Kathy’s work for many years and am
very excited for The Ordinary and the Divine. The exhibition is a rare solo exhibition for RoCo and Kathy’s first
solo exhibition in many years.”
Roslyn Bakst Goldman, past President, Appraisers Association of America and well-known collector said
“Cathy Calderwood’s painting has a magical quality. Her images make one think about the mystical, dream-like
qualities we experience in our thoughts and in our daily lives.”
“Populated by familiar archetypes as well as her own arsenal of neo-surreal symbolism, Kathy Calderwood’s
paintings serve as original interpretations of relationships, behaviors, and experience. Through the necessary
lens of humor, these skillfully-rendered portals puzzle out each mysterious dimension of this strange human
trip.” - Rebecca Rafferty
“Unpacking one of Kathy’s paintings, you discover opposing aspects of a character or an archetype or an
object. It’s as though her figures defy being too neatly represented, even by her.” - Bleu Cease
“Kathy is a rare combination of a painter with the skills of Vermeer and a sense of the absurd to rival Magritte,”
says Ron Netsky, professor of art at Nazareth College, referencing the famous Dutch painter and the Belgian
surrealist artist. “Her colors are so unique and her lighting is so radiant,” he says, “her work looks like it comes
from another planet.”
Calderwood’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions including 2010 Florence Biennial and
at Alan Stone Gallery (New York, NY). She was formerly represented by noted New York art dealer and
collector Allan Stone. Calderwood taught illustration at Syracuse University from 1981 - 1985, and painting and
illustration at Nazareth College from 1985 to 2013.
The 2009 monograph Archetypes, The work of Kathy Calderwood will be available for purchase at the
exhibition.
Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo) is a venue for the exchange of ideas and a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) that was founded in 1977.
As a center for thoughtful contemporary art, RoCo provides unique encounters for audiences and extraordinary opportunities for artists.