7 Photos
Ellen Wiener “Fable of Ivory Lithics,” 41" x 45," mixed media on paper. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Ellen Wiener “Fruit Weight,” 19" x 13," mixed media on paper. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Ellen Wiener, "Amber Urns," 24" x 35”, 2025, mixed media on paper. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Ellen Wiener, “Fable of Ivory Lithics,” 41" x 45." Mixed media on paper. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Ellen Wiener, “Margin & Scree with Sprung Geography; Comments by G.M. Hopkins, Carl Phillips, Elizabeth Bishop,” 8" x 134.5," mixed media on wood. ELLEN WIENER
Ellen Wiener, “Fruit Weight,” 19" x 13," mixed media on paper. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Ellen Wiener in her studio. COLIN GOLDBERG
Dan Welden Gallery in Noyac will present “Green Shade,” a solo exhibition by North Fork artist Ellen Wiener, from July 20 to August 3. An opening reception will be held Sunday, July 20, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Wiener’s luminous, intricately layered work explores the intersections of image, text and natural philosophy. The exhibition title references a line from Andrew Marvell’s 17th-century pastoral poem “The Garden,” a meditation on the porous boundary between culture and nature.
At the heart of the exhibition is “Fable of Ivory Lithics,” a large visual essay combining handwritten notes, painted and printed imagery, literary allusion and scholarly research. It reflects Wiener’s ongoing inquiry into the interwoven relationships among memory, myth, science and text.
Another key work, the 12-foot-long “Margin & Scree with Sprung Geography,” weaves fragments of verse into a terrain of crumbling books, discarded furniture and collapsed architecture. This visual treatise stands as both counterpoint and companion to Marvell’s verse:
“Annihilating all that’s made
To a green thought in a green shade.”
A group of smaller mixed-media pieces, rendered as visual couplets, further investigates the interplay between the natural world and human understanding. In works such as “Fruit Weight,” “Stone & Cedilla” and “Leaf & Underlain,” botanical and geological forms are presented without text, yet evoke deep conceptual meaning.
In “Leaf & Underlain,” plant life is portrayed as a palimpsest, layering visible growth over hidden ecological and temporal strata. The piece, like the exhibition as a whole, invites viewers to reflect on the fusion of nature and culture and the layered meanings that emerge from close attention and visual storytelling.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a special event titled “Branch & Backfire,” featuring a reading and interactive poetry session with Elaine Sexton, L.B. Thompson, Julie Sheehan and guests, will take place Sunday, July 27, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The exhibition will conclude with “Conversation, Cake & Tea with Ellen Wiener” on Sunday, August 3, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Dan Welden Gallery is located at 1649 Millstone Road, Sag Harbor. The gallery will be open on Sundays during scheduled events and Saturdays by appointment. Contact Ellen Wiener at 516-317-0269 to schedule.
Staff Writer on Jul 7, 2025