Wilmington, Del. (February 26, 2024) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Aaron Keith Hoffer’s exhibition, “Unspoken Trajectories,” on view from March 1-28, 2024. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, March 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Hoffer’s show will include dozens of abstract paintings ranging in size from large canvases to small works and sketchbooks. The paintings in the show will invite viewers’ imaginations to wander and discover meaning, similar to how one might study clouds and find shapes.

Hoffer starts his paintings with an abstract layer made by adding shapes and lines with no result in mind. The artist then spends time studying the first phase and responds with a new layer after the work reveals a direction. He deliberately uses materials that are not intended to go together to achieve unusual visual effects.

“I work backwards from cacophonous overstimulation, allowing subjects to emerge. I then cross from spontaneous to exacting, carefully cultivating concrete imagery. Emerging subjects are tinged with my reverence for the absurd and contradictory nature of consciousness and reality,” Hoffer said.

Hoffer started mixing different materials out of necessity by using what he had and what was free when he started this practice a decade ago. Today, he continues the practice of combining incompatible materials to surprise himself and create novelty.

Hoffer received a 2024 Emerging Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. He works and teaches painting and drawing at the Dover Art League.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Images in the banner: Pink Skull, 2022, mixed media on polystyrene, 10” x 10”; The Panel, 2021, mixed media on board, 6” x 9”; Cobra Spell, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 16” x 20”.

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

The Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery presents Constanza (Cony) Madariaga’s exhibition, “The Knowing,” on view from February 2-24, 2024. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, February 2 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

The title of Madariaga’s show is a reference to a Jay-Z quote that resonated with the artist. In an interview, Jay-Z said, “There’s a knowing in being an artist, there’s a knowing.” From a young age, Madariaga has possessed an unwavering belief in her identity as an artist.

Painting and drawing have always been a very personal experience for Madariaga, and she has enjoyed being able to share some of those intimate feelings in her life with others through her artwork. She said, “Through the showcased artwork, the audience is invited to explore my artistic journey and the intimate connection that defines my existence as an artist.”

The exhibition showcases the variety in Madariaga’s repertoire from portraits and still lifes to abstracts and graphic work created by lines. Plants and flowers appear in much of her work, and she explains that they are a metaphor for life. The artist works in a variety of mediums from acrylic paint to pastels, and often incorporates other mediums such as markers and watercolors into her work.

Madariaga, a resident of Delaware, is the recipient of a 2023 Emerging Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. She is also a 2023/2024 Artist in Residence at The Delaware Contemporary, where she maintains a studio.

The Meet the Artist video featuring Madariaga can be viewed on the Division’s YouTube page here: https://youtu.be/RZ1TEl2wkdA?si=MPOv5uF3nBTT7qaK

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

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The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is committed to supporting the arts and cultivating creativity to enhance the quality of life in Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

Wilmington, Del. (November 30, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents 2023 Artist Fellow Lauren E. Peters’ exhibition, “Art Monster,” on view between December 1-29, 2023. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, December 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Lauren E. Peters is a visual artist working with the concepts of identity and gender through self-portraiture. “Self-portraiture came to me by way of a painting by Chantal Joffe, a female figure in a drippy red dress whose identity was both obscured and attempting to assert herself,” says Peters.

The artist started changing her appearance using wigs and costumes as armor, projection, mirage. She created source photos by taking selfies with her cell phone and used them as the base material upon which she adds and subtracts layers of meaning. She hopes that the oil paintings join the legacy of portraits trying to stake a claim in existence, “I am running full force, smashing my body into my own stories and a shared history to see what sticks.”

The theme for this show was inspired by Peters’ recent reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and builds on the term “art monster” penned by Jenny Offill. In this series of paintings, Peters explores identity, societal pressures, and transcending conformity as ways to free herself and become her own creature. Peters says, “Choose your own adventure. We are both Frankenstein and monster. Creator. Created.”

Peters began painting self-portraits for a small exhibit in 2016 after an extended hiatus from painting. She continued to develop this body of work and in 2018 was awarded the Delaware Individual Artist Fellowship in painting for her self-portraiture.

In 2021, Peters curated a group exhibition, “Appearances,” at The Delaware Contemporary with 16 other artists creating a piece based on an early self-portrait. She saw the public installation of her portrait of “Wilma,” the namesake of a new restaurant/bowling alley in downtown Wilmington. In 2022 Peters attended the Soaring Gardens Residency and will attend a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in the spring of 2024.

Peters is currently the recipient of the 2023 Established Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. She lives and works in Wilmington, Delaware.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

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The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

Wilmington, Del. (October 2, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Wilmington resident and 2023 Master Fellow B. Proud’s exhibition, “Transcending Love,” on view between October 6-27, 2023.  “Transcending Love: Portraits of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Couples and Families” offers a glimpse into the relationships of transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming couples across the USA. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, October 6 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

“This exhibition invites the viewer to accept the subjects as everyday people with hopes and dreams and a deep abiding love. The portraits offer an invitation to accept what’s beneath the surface, not in terms of anatomy, sexuality, or gender expression, but rather what lies in the hearts and souls of the subjects,” says Proud.

The formality of these portraits, as opposed to candid photographs, is aimed at honoring the subjects in a more stately, heroic way. Through captions, quotes and/or text garnered from video interviews, the viewer learns that one or both subjects are not cisgender. Each portrait location, chosen by the couple in discussion with the artist, is significant and provides the viewer with another level of understanding into the relationship.

“For this community, visibility is validating, and these portraits offer affirmation that the subjects deserve the right to live as their true authentic selves. In many cases, the couple visibly presents as heterosexual or even homosexual, terms reserved for sexuality. This visible “normalcy” confirms that the honesty of gender expression is both non-threating and liberating. The subjects are not asking permission to live their truth, they are proudly demonstrating their right to do so,” says Proud.

As both a commercial and fine art photographer, B. Proud has exhibited her work in solo and group shows around the globe. A career highlight was photographing President Barack Obama and Lady Gaga on the same day. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Photography Department at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and faculty at the International Center of Photography (ICP), New York.

Proud’s current work is a series of socially conscious documentary projects focused on the LGBTQ+ and transgender communities. First Comes Love is a traveling exhibition of photographs, stories, and videos of couples in long-term relationships. When the mainstream publishers refused to take on the project, Barbara forged ahead and self-published the coffee table book First Comes Love: Portraits of Enduring LGBTQ Relationships, with a foreword by icon Edie Windsor. A compilation of stunning black & white portraits and stories of 65 couples, the book has received two gold medal awards. First Comes Love has been exhibited in New York City, Philadelphia, Delaware, Washington state, Washington, DC, Seattle, Minneapolis, Florida, Berlin, Germany, and Athens, Greece. A Circle of Diamonds, a film about Edie Windsor’s diamond “engagement” pin that Proud shot, edited, and co-produced with local Philadelphia artists/composers/musicians Michael Biello and Dan Martin, has been included in more than 20 film festivals worldwide.

Proud’s projects have received grants from the B.W. Bastian Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, The University of the Arts, and the Delaware Division of the Arts, who recently awarded her the state’s exclusive Masters Fellowship. Her work is included in the Weeks Gallery, Jamestown, NY, the Delaware Art Museum, Eastman Kodak, the Center for Photography Woodstock, Haverford College, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and private collections.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Image: Jake & Hannah, 2017, Photograph, Archival Pigment Print, © B. Proud

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

Wilmington, Del. (September 1, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Bryant “Tee” Bell’s exhibition, “Enlightenment,” running September 1-29, 2023.  Bell is an Emerging 2023 Individual Artist Fellow in the field of visual arts: painting. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, September 8 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (Art Loop Wilmington has been moved to the second Friday of September due to the Labor Day Holiday).

Bell’s artwork takes a critical view of social, political, and cultural issues regarding inclusion and representation in our society.  His work examines the reality of the American dream for different cultures and engages diverse subjects that may include Caribbean, African American, Muslim, American Indian, Caucasian, homeless and poor people, in addition to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and Veterans.  Bell’s work shares “a look at some Americans that make up the very fabric of our society, who are often unseen and overlooked in their daily struggle for equal rights, opportunity, and their piece of a dream that we call freedom in America.”

Bell’s paintings are sometimes people of color with facial features often expressing the stress and experiences of their everyday lives. Each of Bell’s projects consist of multiple ideas, using a range of different media, grouped around specific themes and meanings.  It has required him to research other artists, color choices, materials, approaches and concepts to produce new works of art.

As a painter, Bell consistently works to master new mediums, seeking to learn techniques and paint on a larger scale. He exhibits regularly throughout Delaware – frequently at the Mispillion Art League (Milford), at the Biggs Museum of American Art (Dover), and at CAMP Rehoboth. He also works to relate music, photography, sculpture, and other mediums to his practice, and he finds that meeting new artists and viewers is especially fruitful and rewarding.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Image: Joyful Noise, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 inches

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.