THE ARTIST’S STATEMENT
The focus on my working class roots, and the immigrant experience in America are the catalyst for images of the bawdy, and the eccentric drawn from a world I once knew. This goes to the heart of my inspiration for this series of paintings. The works are ambitious in scale and execution, they focus on the buxom figure set into intricate and mythic New York/English landscapes. The scenarios oscillate between truth and fantasy, and are by turns introspective, edgy, or comically tinted. The greater the complexity the more I enjoy painting, and indulging my impulse to form a contrast between the hefty and the minute. A tiny bee underfoot, a mouse, or a gossamer dandelion, are set in opposition, and add a sense of intimacy to a voyeuristic narrative.
Technically these paintings are steeped in tradition, painted and re-painted over long periods of time. This is accomplished with both direct, and indirect techniques, which serve to produce rich color, depth and textural illusion. Drawing skills too play their own part in developing the character of a painting to its full potential.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
1981 M.F.A., Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Hoffberger School of Graduate Painting
1979 B.A., S.U.N.Y Brockport, Brockport , NY
1978 Rochester Institute of Technology
1970-72 John Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, IND
Solo, Two Person, and Invitational Exhibitions
2104 AXOM Gallery & Exhibition Space, Mad Sally with Things on Strings, solo exhibit,
Rochester, NY
2013 Carmen Lewis Gallery, Troy, NY
2008 Handwerker Gallery, The Evolution of Mad Sally, solo retrospective, sponsored by Ithaca College the Department of Gerontology, Ithaca, NY
2008 Delevan Gallery, group invitational, Syracuse, NY
2007 John D. Rockefeller Gallery, SUNY Fredonia, Mad Sally: Dancing with Shadows, Fredonia, NY
2006 Albright Knox Museum, biennial invitational, Buffalo, NY
2005 George Waters Gallery, Elmira College, three-person invitational, Elmira, NY
2005 Schweinfurth Gallery, invitational, Auburn, NY
2004 Roberson Museum, invitational, Cosmos and Chaos a Cultural Paradox, Binghamton, NY
2004 Memorial Art Gallery Museum, biennial invitational, Rochester, NY
2004 Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, Mad As the Mist and Snow, Ithaca, NY
2004 Tyler Art Gallery, SUNY Oswego, Mad Sally’s Marvelous Adventures, Oswego, NY
2003 Warehouse Gallery, Rude and Bold Women, invitational, Binghamton, NY
2003 Bertha Lederer Gallery, SUNY Geneseo, two-person invitational, Geneseo, NY
1994 Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, solo exhibition, Ithaca, NY
1995 Everson Museum, solo exhibition, Syracuse, NY
1992 Center One Gallery, Joy Adams: Looking Glasses, Soho, New York, NY
1991 Handwerker Gallery, Timepieces, two-person, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
1990 Mercer Gallery, MCC, Joy Adams, Recent Work, Rochester, NY
1986 SUNY Brockport, solo exhibition, Brockport, NY
1984 Remington Museum, Joy Adams, Recent Paintings, Ogdensburg, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2011 Memorial Art Gallery/Museum, Rochester, NY, award
2011 Schweinfurth Memorial Art Gallery, Auburn, NY
2011 XL Projects Gallery, Syracuse, NY
2010 Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY, small works exhibition
2009 Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, collaborative artist book
2009 Mobius Gallery, Boston, NY, collaborative artist book
2009 River Mill Gallery, Westfield, NJ, collaborative artist book
2009 Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery, NY,NY collaborative artist book (traveling)
2009 The Working Relationship Carousel, Ithaca, NY
2008 Munson Williams Proctor Museum, Central NY Artists, Utica, NY
2002 Memorial Gallery, Rochester, NY, award
2002 Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY
1999 Memorial Art Gallery/Museum, Rochester, NY
1997 Baisley House Gallery, Brooklyn Heights, New York, NY
1996 Munson Williams Proctor Museum, Central NY Artists, Utica, NY, award
1996 Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY, award
1994 Alternative Museum, New York, NY
1993 Art in General, New York, NY
1992 Gallery Tribeca, New York, NY
1991 Federal Plaza, Jacob Javits Bldg., New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions - continued
1991 Organization of Independent Artists, New York, NY
1991 Adelphi University Gallery, New York, NY
1990 Bergen Museum of Art, Parasmus, NJ
1989 Susquehanna Mid-Atlantic, Philadelphia, PA
1988 Foreman Gallery, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
1987 Gallery 34, College of the Finger Lakes, Canandaigua, NY
1986 New Paltz Gallery, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
1985 Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY
1985 AAO Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1984 Pleaides Gallery, Soho, New York, NY
Publications
2013 IthacaLit, summer issue, www.ithacalit.com
2013 Orion Magazine, March/April issue
2011 City Newspaper, Rochester, NY, August
2011 Democrat and Chronical, Living, August
2008 Cover feature on Stone Canoe Journal of Arts and Ideas, painting featured on 50′ billboard in Armory Square, downtown Syracuse, NY, Spring
2006 Albright Knox, Beyond in Western NY, catalog, page 6,
2004 Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin Lifestyle, Cosmos and Chaos, January 30, =
2004 ART NEWS, Cosmos and Chaos, page 47, January,
2004 Roberson Museum and Science Center, Cosmos and Chaos a Cultural Paradox,
catalog, p.19
2003 Democrat and Chronicle, Living, Rochester, NY, July 31
Collections
2009 Los Angeles County Museum Library, collaborative artist book
1996 Munson Williams Proctor Museum
1979 SUNY Brockport
1983 SUNY Potsdam
1980 Grace Hartigan, private collection
Awards
2011 Harbor Capitol Advisory Services Award, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY
2010 New York Foundation for the Arts, fellowship in painting
1999 Memorial Gallery Museum, Rochester, NY
1998 New York Foundation for the Arts, Strategic Opportunity Grant
1997 Ithaca College scholarship for Fresco Painting Technique course/ H.F.Johnson Museum/Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1999 Ithaca College scholarship for Painting Techniques of the 17th Century Dutch Masters,
New York Academy, NY, NY
2002 Ithaca College scholarship for Portrait Painting workshop, New York Academy, NY,
1996 Munson Williams Proctor Museum, purchase award
1995 Arnot Museum, Elmira, NY