Press Release

NEW ORLEANS - Heriard-Cimino Gallery presents The Figure Revisited, paintings and drawings by Michael Northuis, Brian Novatny and Monica Zeringue. This exhibition will be on view from June 2 through June 30, 2007. A reception to meet the artist will be held on Saturday, June 2nd from 6 until 9 p.m. The public is invited. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 until 5, or by appointment.

In this exhibition, The Figure Revisited, three gallery artists present interpretations of the figure in their paintings and drawings.

Michael Northuis draws from such diverse sources as 15th century European panel paintings, African art, and from modern painters including Nutt, Picasso and Dix. His characters appear in his drawings with fantastic hairstyles, unfamiliar clothing, and unusual facial markings and masks - his tribal male figures in particular reflect a kind of alienation. His women generally have no markings and seem considerably freer and more comfortable in their own skin. Northuis’ collective characters appear somewhat familiar yet the ultimate impression is that they recently arrived from unfamiliar places. Northuis states - “Thematically my work can be divided into simple ‘head’ studies, and complex investigations involving more than one person in which I try to find a poetic/psychological resonance distilling the various stylistic and thematic ideas into a unified whole.” Northuis uses a classical technique in executing his work, resulting in poetic drawings, intriguingly deviant and mysterious.

Michael Northuis received his M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina and his B.A. cum laude, at Hope College in Michigan. His work has been exhibited in the 41st Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the 1998 Triennial at the New Orleans Museum of Art. He has had numerous exhibitions in Washington D.C. and throughout the southeast. Northuis lives and works in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Brian Novatny draws and paints intimate scenes of human figures caught in isolated worlds. His beautiful, enticing images express a sense of mystery and detachment intensified by a sophisticated use of color and space. Novatny draws upon a range of art historical traditions in his timeless imagery, from the Renaissance, Russian folk art, and European Modernism.

Novatny writes, “The basic premise of my work deals with the play and manipulation of characters and objects which could have arrived from a seemingly placid and mundane backdrop. This kind of an environment exists without any precedent history and describes a narrative of living purely day to day. These images are fragments of a larger possible story assembled in a circular, non-linear fashion. They are placed sporadically around the painting sometimes overlapping one another in order to disrupt the ‘story line’ even further.”

Novatny received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Columbus College of Art and Design and his Master of Fine Arts from Yale University School of Art, where he was awarded the Richard Welling Prize for excellence in drawing. In 1999, Novatny received the Basil H. Alkazzi Award in Painting. He has had solo exhibitions throughout the country, including shows in New York, Seattle, WA, Santa Monica, CA, Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany, as well as the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, MD. Brian Novatny lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Monica Zeringue’s drawings and paintings capture a time of transition and possibility. Innumerable versions of the character address aspects of the artist - the images go back to a time of innocence and potential. The artist explains, “My girls exist in a dream space. They are rendered with detailed accuracy, yet the world around them is empty, like a partially recalled memory.” A number of Zeringue’s drawings and paintings are embroidered, the thread adds not only dimension but another level of realism. The stitches sit on top of the drawing, confusing the illusion of space so carefully created. They puncture and penetrate the surface continuing behind the paper and fabric, weaving back and forth between the observed world and an unseen world. Both Zeringue’s drawings and paintings are exquisitely executed, intriguing, and reveal a connectedness between her own personal explorations and that which is invoked for the viewer.

Monica Zeringue received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans in 1993, and her Master of Fine Arts from UNO in 2006. She was awarded the Prix de l’Acadamie de Paris, Societe Internationale des Beaux-Arts in 1999, and the Award of Distinction at the 24th Annual Juried Competition by the Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA, in 1997. She has had solo exhibitions in New Orleans, the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS, as well as group exhibitions in Louisiana and throughout the southeast United States. Zeringue’s work can be found in the New Orleans Museum of Art, Frederick R Weisman Art Foundation Collection, Los Angeles, CA, the Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA, and the Arts Council of New Orleans. The artist lives and works in New Orleans, LA.