Gina Werfel '79 Unveils Solo Show at Prince Street Gallery

Prince Street Gallery is currently showcasing Bicoastal, a compelling new series of works by Visual Arts alum Gina Werfel ‘79, whose exploration of light and space offers a fresh perspective. This exhibition not only highlights Werfel’s evolution as an artist but also marks a significant moment in her transition from California to New York and the Hudson Valley.

Werfel’s latest body of work reflects her deep engagement with both Asian and Western artistic traditions. Her paintings meld influences from Asian landscape and calligraphy with the grandeur of Western Baroque figure painting, creating a rich tapestry of cultural and artistic dialogues. This synthesis is evident in her practice of lyrical mark-making, where she employs stencils and collage techniques inspired by dance, and draws on the influence of of modernist giants Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning.

A distinctive feature of Werfel’s work is her ability to sustain a dialogue between intimate, personal gestures and expansive, structural forms within the same painting. Her new works demonstrate a deliberate effort to define and situate her multi-colored marks within the overall field of the canvas. She achieves this through innovative use of frames and painter’s tape, which function as framing devices and contribute to the paintings' cinematic quality. The result is a dynamic interplay of gestures that both animate and fragment the painted space, evoking a sense of displacement.

The exhibition reveals Werfel’s fascination with the tactile nature of color and mark-making. Her approach often leads to flat, interlocking shapes that form intricate architectures, or, as seen in her piece, Raft, suggest whimsical, ephemeral structures like a flying carpet. These forms are grounded in personal memories and aim to capture transitory sensory experiences, creating an open-ended and potentially limitless space within each painting.

Werfel’s work reflects a nuanced exploration of painting’s materials and processes, showcasing her ability to translate personal experiences into visual language. Her paintings invite viewers to engage with the physicality of color and form, offering a sensory experience that is both intimate and expansive. This latest exhibition at Prince Street Gallery stands as a testament to her artistic evolution and her ability to bridge diverse influences into a cohesive and evocative body of work. The exhibition will open with a reception for the artist on Thursday, September 5, from 5-8 pm.