Jazz in The City

Herndon, VA - ArtSpace Herndon is proud to exhibit the paintings of two talented artists, Kristine Keller and Robert Gilbert. The exhibit will be on display June 13 - July 8, 2017 at ArtSpace 750 Center Street Herndon VA, 20170. The Reception will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2017, 7-9pm. Join us as they both explore the music, life and architecture of the city.

Kristine “Kimikaa” Keller will explore how jazz and its musical giants are a way of life, while captivating the beauty of color and separation in its music through paint storms! She has a great interest in community and the colors they create. The fragmented moments they share. The emotions in between spaces, shattered and carried throughout our lives. To notice, to make an account, drives her. These paintings are about the pleasures of being aware of the world around her and telling these stories from many angles. Diving into these shapes and juxtaposition help me push between the paint, her subject and experience.

Kristine Keller is a proper painter, screenprinter, and teacher; born on the east coast and raised in Michigan. After studying at the University of Michigan with a focus in painting, Kimikaa moved west. From 2008 – 2012 she has worked with San Francisco Lines Ballet and dancers as well as creating murals with Precita Eyes Muralists. Recently returning to New York while splitting time in Chicago to start Tree House Studio Collective and collaborate with youth creating community and commercial murals. Her favorite subject is the human expression through movement, Kimikaa brings her love for her art to every project with paint storms.

Robert Gilbert will thrust you into Manhattan, New York City’s oldest and most densely populated borough. He has moved 32 times in his life and has lived and traveled extensively throughout the US, Europe and Asia. As an architect he was emotionally moved when he saw cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Paris. Each metropolis has its signature, its heart and its unique combination of power, color, noise, confusion and architecture. But for him, there is only one New York. This city makes him proud to be an American. This is what drives him to paint Manhattan.

“As you view each painting, tumble into a frenetic night scene with throbbing subterranean trains, steam spurting from sidewalk vents, impatient taxis, muscle-bound skyscrapers and shrieking sirens. Your initial focus will be at ground level as this is the way to absorb a one-of-a-kind urban beehive. At night, kaleidoscopic signs blind you with bold moving colors and shimmering patterns. People, taxis, limos, and delivery trucks scamper everywhere. As you walk, you’re jostled--excited and nervous all at the same time. There may be a light rain, but rain doesn’t stop you. It only magnifies the colors and lights. Look closely and feel yourself sucked into the crowds, into the noise, into blurred, undefined movement. Now, notice the concrete canyons formed by human-built monuments of steel and stone as they lead you from the Hudson to the East River and back. The skyscrapers loom over you in contrast to the vibrancy at street level. I want you to become part of this vivid landscape by becoming a part of my painting. I want you to say “Yes, I’ve been there, and that’s exactly what it feels like”.”

Event Details:

The works will be on exhibit June 13 – July 8, 2017. The Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2017, 7-9 pm. All art will be available for purchase. For more information on the exhibit and artists or to purchase sponsorships please visit our website at ArtSpaceHerndon.org.

Arts Herndon is an independent 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization and serves as the official arts agency of the Town of Herndon. We operate ArtSpace Herndon, the Art Gallery and Performance Space at 750 Center Street, Herndon. We also provide arts education, arts scholarships, works of public art and grants to small arts organizations and artists. All Arts Herndon programming and exhibits are made possible in part by generous contributions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Town of Herndon, the Arts Council of Fairfax County, the Nelson J and Katherine Friant Post Foundation, Steve and Pat Macintyre, and by our generous sponsors, supporters and volunteers. Visit us on the web at www.HerndonArts.org or ArtSpaceHerndon.org.