Monmouth Museum's NJ Emerging Artist Opening Reception: Andrew Werth

The Monmouth Museum’s New Jersey Emerging Artists Series will present Morphogenesis by Andrew Werth from July 15th through August 14th, 2016 in the Nilson Gallery at the Museum, located at 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ. The Opening Reception, July 15th, will be held from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. Admission is free, open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Werth’s Gallery Talk will be held on August 3rd from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM, which is also a free event.

“I have long been interested in the mind: consciousness, perception, thinking, psychology, and the self,” stated Werth. Informal studies in the philosophy of the mind and cognitive psychology provide subject matter for much of his artwork. Using a meditative painting technique, Werth describes his paintings as Organized Organic Abstraction.

With BS and MS Degrees from Carnegie Mellon, Werth’s first career was as a software engineer. He left that profession and moved to Manhattan for nearly six years to try something different, self-directing an arts and humanities education that included classes at the School of Visual Arts, The New School, and the Art Students League.

His paintings, carefully designed abstract artwork full of curvy, biomorphic shapes (most of which are on aluminum composite panels) are constructed through a slow, deliberate process that consists of thousands of hand-painted, carefully applied interlocking brushstrokes of acrylic paint. Gradations of color in the underpainting interact with similar changes in the top layer of marks, allowing the mind’s perceptual apparatus to create a sense of depth, movement, and luminosity.

The title of this show, Morphogenesis, refers to the creation of shapes in biological creatures, especially through a process first described by British mathematician Alan Turing.

“I simulate that process on the computer until an artistically pleasing equilibrium is reached and use the resulting patterns as starting points for my paintings. Turing Patterns provide a link to my previous career as a software engineer and show how simple processes can produce complex and beautiful designs in both nature and art,” Werth stated.

The Monmouth Museum, founded in 1963 as a Museum of Ideas, presents changing art, history and science exhibitions to educate and entertain while providing a destination for creative expression and life-long learning to the diverse community it serves.

Imaginative and informative changing exhibitions in the Main Gallery and Nilson Gallery present a wide variety of art in all media. The Museum’s New Jersey Emerging Artists Series in the Nilson Gallery features six solo exhibitions each year by NJ artists. Admission is $8.00 for visitors age 2 and over.

For more information about the Monmouth Museum exhibits and programs their website is www.monmouthmuseum.org or call 732-747-2266. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.