“Georgia O’Keeffe and the Transcendentalists” lecture presented by John Cino, Thursday, May 14, 7PM

One of the most significant artists of the 20th century, Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was devoted to creating imagery that expressed what she called “the wideness and wonder of the world as I live in it.” Her art and life were deeply influenced by transcendentalism, mirroring the philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau through her spiritual connection to nature, solitude, and the American Southwest landscape. Using abstract forms, she captured the "essential" spirit of subjects like flowers and bones, reflecting a search for deeper meaning, self-reliance and emotional purity.

Though a New York resident, she traveled to Taos, New Mexico, in 1929 where expansive skies and distinct desert landscapes transformed her vision and connected her with artists of the Transcendental Painting Group (TPG), who explored abstraction as a spiritual and modern response to the Southwest. Though TPG was short lived, functioning as a group from 1938 to 1941, its members where influential from the late 1920s through the 20th century.

Transcendentalism emphasizes the importance of being close to nature. Many of O’Keeffe’s most famous paintings are of flowers and other plants and objects found in nature. She traveled to different parts of the United States and found inspiration in what she saw while exploring. Georgia O’Keeffe was also a nonconformist and she preferred to work alone. These ideas of nonconformity and self-reliance are also important tenets of Transcendentalism.

This lecture is presented by John Cino,a sculptor, art educator and curator. He graduated from Hunter College of the City University of New with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts and from Stony Brook University with a BA in Fine Arts. After holding positions as a gallery assistant for noted NY artist Ed Buonagurio and as an art teacher for the NYC public Schools, John began teaching on the collegiate level. He is currently teaching sculpture and three-dimensial design at Nassau Community College and Farmingdale State College. He has curated many exhibitions in New York City and Long Island, including 14 Sculptors Gallery, Adelphi University, the Islip Museum and Nassau Community College. He is the senior curator of the Patchogue Arts Council Gallery, now the Museum of Contemporary Art, Long Island and has been since its inception in 2008.

You may register onlinehttps://theatelieratflowerfield.org/lectures or call 631-250-9009 for more information.