Topaz Arts Woodside Opens New Exhibit

A Contemporary Exhibit of Collage, Assemblage, Sculpture & Installation

March 14, 2016 / Woodside Neighborhood / Art Scene in Queens / Queens Buzz.

Last weekend I attended the opening reception at Topaz Arts in Woodside for Case Studies, which is an exhibition of contemporary collage, assemblage, sculpture & installation. The exhibit features five artists - Joseph Paul Fox, Ged Merino, Orange, Roger Rothstein and Junko Yamada who exhibited a variety of contemporary works.

I arrived around 3 pm on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. The temperature was in the 60’s and the door was wide open, welcoming the fresh Spring air and guests into the art gallery in Woodside. Along the front window there was a table of hors d’oeuvres and wine, while along the walls of the gallery were very neatly partitioned exhibits by each of the five artists.

The inspiration for the exhibit was an influential American artist, Joseph Cornell [1903 – 1972] who lived and created his artworks in Queens. Cornell was a pioneer in assemblage art and considered by many to be a Surrealist. He shunned the Surrealist label however, believing Surrealist artists’ works alluded to black magic, while his referenced his own private, poetic world using found objects. By the 1930’s he was a well-known New York assemblage artist, and appeared in numerous New York City metro art exhibits, including at the [then] new Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.

Click here to view the rest of the story including photos and video about the new art exhibit, Case Studies, at Topaz Arts gallery in Woodside, Queens.