New Work by Joel Janowitz opens May 12 at Victoria Munroe Fine Art on Newbury Street

An exhibit of new work by Joel Janowitz opens May 12 at Victoria Munroe Fine Art - 161Newbury Street. The opening reception is from 6:00 - 8:00, with a gallery talk by Joel at 7:00. Oil paintings are at the heart of the show, and are unified by an exploration of hands - what they reveal and what they withhold. Figures are placed somewhat precariously at the edges of each painting, with a range of richly painted surfaces dominating the larger, central area. Their is a lot of room for the viewer to speculate and form their own notions as to what the painting might be “about.” Joel worked with a combination of professional models and acquaintances for each set of hands, and one can sense an evolution of ideas and treatments from the origin of the series, which began one evening around a card table.

No stranger to working with the figure, Joel has made a point of incorporating figure study into the classes he teaches in his South End studio throughout the fall and spring.This summer he is also teaching water color workshops at Montserrat. He is an energetic and gifted teacher who gently and persistently prods each student to see anew, and to develop skills to create work that strives to be more arresting, more daring.  Included below are a few samples of work done by his students.