MM Fine Art is pleased to present two simultaneous exhibitions, Janet Culbertson, “Long Island Landscapes Revisited”, and Anna Jurinich, “My Here and There”. Both exhibitions open on Saturday, September 25, with an artist opening reception from 5 to 8pm, and will remain on view through October 11, 2021.
An Environmental and Feminist artist for over 50 years, Janet Culbertson paints Earth’s diverse creatures and landscapes, exploring their beauty and demise through experimental techniques and materials. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania Culbertson spent hours canoeing the beautiful rivers and lakes with her father and brother. One day she witnessed the water turning a sulfuric orange as rocks and dead fish floated by. “That day I became an environmentalist”, she remembers.
After graduating Carnegie Mellon University, Culbertson earned an MA from New York University which enabled her to make a living teaching college art while painting. Her first exhibit, Elegy to Nature, was in New York City in 1967. In the seventies she had 4 one woman shows, received a C.A.P.S. NY state graphics award, a Pollock/ Krasner Grant.
Culbertson traveled extensively painting the dark volcanic islands of the Galapagos, the fierce beauty of the Grand Canyon, the extraordinary animals of Africa and the subtle waters of Long Island. This exhibit contrasts the Long Island of the sixties with her vision of the Long Island of today…some of her favorite scenes are of Jessup Neck, Crab Creek and Shell Beach.
Janet currently lives and paints on Shelter Island, NY.
Anna Jurinich was born in Croatia and immigrated to the United States in 1958. There is often a psychological undertone to Jurinich’s work, a message, a human condition triggered by personal and/or worldly events.
“It stems from fears about life as well as about the joy of just being alive. From a center core that is hardly ever seen but more felt. My imagination than makes up visuals of those feelings. Wars, loneliness, as well as the joy of feeling one with the universe are all subjects that I pluck out of everyday life and use in my paintings.” ~Anna Jurinich
In her still life and flower paintings the intensity is still present as Ms. Jurinich approaches every subject with equal respect. The attention to details is based on the artist’s personal style of painting but also to her feeling that everything, even the smallest leaf is of equal importance to everything else.
Jurinich attended Parsons School of Design. Upon graduation Ms. Jurinich moved to Florence, Italy where she resided for 3 years studying Renaissance Art. She has been residing on the East End of Long Island since 1992 where she has been very active in the arts. She has exhibited in SoHo, The Alternative Museum, The Islip Museum, The Parrish Museum, Elaine Benson Gallery, East End Arts Council, The Heckscher Museum Biennial, and the Southampton Arts Center.
