World art in Stroudsburg

Fulmer St. home houses new gallery with global designs

Helen Yanulus
Pocono Life Writer
The Pocono Record
December 02, 2006

Last month, art enthusiasts viewed the richly colored beasts, birds and critters of Swiss artist Elso Schiavo at the inaugural exhibition of Gallery 705.

Now through January, artists with ties to Lithuania, Poland, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Brazil and other locales will fire the local imagination via small-scale paintings, drawings, collages, prints, photographs, fibers and mixed media.

Gallery 705 is not located in a big city but the Poconos — on Fulmer Avenue in Stroudsburg, to be exact.

Owners Edward and Connie Evans, who moved to the area from Minnesota about four years ago, are introducing international artwork that has never been viewed here before.

While running an art gallery is not a guaranteed income and is speculative at best, Edward, who has international contacts because of his exhibition record, wanted to show the work of artists he has been lucky enough to meet.

Edward, a retired professor who still runs a university gallery, said, "To like art is not enough. I have a passion for art, and I like working with artists. Whether I get more out of it than that remains to be seen. For now, that seems sufficient. This is fun!"

His advice to collectors is to buy what they like because the art world is fickle when it comes to art as an investment. Artists can be in and out of favor in the time it takes to clean a brush. But if the artist is represented in a museum or book, a good chance exists that the value will be constant or increase.

That is not, however, this couple's focus. Connie, a professor of classical languages, said, "As a teacher, I'm used to sharing ideas.  I want people to feel free to come in and browse. It's not so much about the money, but to share the artists' work."

The two-room gallery, which is attached to their home, will be filled with art. Even the walls of the bathroom, adjacent to the gallery, are exhibition space. Other art will find its way into the modern-style home, which has large windows that overlook the town from a perch on the hill.

"This house is ideal for an artist as well as a gallery. It's so open and can display work. It's a big space because Edward has big ideas," Connie said. "He says many times that this is like living within a sculpture."

The couple moved to the Poconos to be closer to Manhattan. Edward, who made many trips from the Midwestern prairies to New York, was always impressed driving through the Delaware Water Gap.

His personal exhibition schedule is busy; however, Edward decided that a gallery of international works, which may include the work of local artists that matches the theme of a particular show, was an undertaking he was prepared to do.

Previously as a gallery director, he had help to prepare each exhibition. His first gallery started in a trailer that was towed from town to town to bring art to children, and eventually became a museum. Here, he not only selects the artists but hangs the show as well. Often that takes days of planning and rearranging.

"It's a cultural exchange between the artist and the public. I'm kind of a missionary of art," Edward said.

The first artist, Schiavo, stayed with the couple, leaving them his countless doodles of the squirrels outside their door. They also took him on a tour of the Big Apple. "We helped Elso by introducing him to things he didn't see before," Edward said.

He hopes to do the same for local artists.

"We are helping artists in the area by introducing them to other ideas, approaches and cultural exchanges," he said. "That's how art develops. Artists learn from one another. You don't develop art in isolation."

That development rarely comes from viewing the art in a book or on the Internet. "There's a world of difference between looking at an original piece and a reproduction. People say, 'I didn't realize this was so small' or they see the brush strokes of the artist's hand," Edward said.

This was evident in Schiavo's work: He spattered the paint on the canvas, would see something, cover the sections that didn't matter with white paint and add detail.

"You get the feeling from the painting that the artist had," Edward said. "There's something nice seeing the picture up on the wall that was made just for that."

If you go

Name: Gallery 705

Location: 705 Fulmer Ave., Stroudsburg. The two-room gallery is attached to the owner's home. The house, built 15 years ago, was designed by the architect Barry Trethway, who used the space where the gallery is now located for his office.

Hours: During the first week of a new exhibition, the gallery will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Other hours by appointment.

Opened: Nov. 4.

Mission: To feature international artists, mid-career and established.

Gallery director: Dr. Connie Evans. She is a professor of classical languages, who is teaching online for Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn. She has also taught at the University of Idaho and Washington State University.

Curator: Edward Evans. He is an artist who exhibits widely in the United States, Europe and Asia, and is a retired art professor, having taught at Southwest Minnesota State University and other schools. He is the director of the Southwest Minnesota State University Art Museum.

Next exhibit: "It's A Small World," running today through Jan. 28, will feature 50 artists from Europe and North and South America. Much of the work, none bigger than 12 by 13 inches, will be from Eastern Europe from 1960 to the present, including drawings, paintings, prints, fiber and photography. Artists will include the late Ben Shahn's drawings that appeared in the book "Kay-Kay Comes Home" and the etchings of Sandro Chia. The opening reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. today.

Picasso and Others Featured in Stroudsburg 'Body Art' Exhibit

July 06, 2007

Gallery 705 is hosting "Body Art," an exhibition showcasing drawings, paintings, photographs, printmaking and sculpture.

Two of the artists, Marc Aghemio and Augustin Tzen, received traditional training at the academy in Paris. Through countless hours of concentrated work they developed tremendous skill in drawing and painting nude models. Their mature styles reflect, but go well beyond, realistically depicting the human form. Both artists venture into the realms of the emotions and psychological feelings.

As a youth, Aghemio was tutored by surrealist masters. That influence is still evident in an unreal sense of order that his paintings contain. Though enchanted by the world's beauty, Aghemio shuts out everything that is foreign to his sense of order — thus creating an illusion of a quiet, ideal other-world.

Tzen is an incredibly talented draftsman and handler of paint. His seductive manipulation of juicy oil paint and luscious colors result in incomparable beauty. Although we initially respond to the beauty of the brushstrokes and colors, we soon realize that there is more going on. We sense the underlying psychological uneasiness and realize that beauty can be misleading and forbidding.

Nicola Samori creates haunting mixed media works and transfer prints of heads that gradually come into focus when viewed from a distance. Tina Stolt makes free hanging figures on gauze that convey a ghost-like mood as light passes through them and brings our eyes into focus.

Keen Wong and Mike Witmer exhibit abstract expressionist paintings and drawings. Jaden Van Ekeren and Nick Schleif set their figures against flat black backgrounds for striking dramatic effects. Schleif, Joyce Pommer and Ross Zirkle use cubist ideas to break figures into basic re-echoing shapes. Ulrike Israel exhibits a cubist shaped wood sculpture.

The exhibition contains etchings by Picasso, inventor of cubism and the undisputed leader of 20th century art. What cannot be said about Picasso? He did it all; he either solely invented or played a role in the invention of every modern art movement. And, oh yes, nobody could draw better than Picasso.

Body Art will exhibit at Gallery 705 from July 4 through Aug. 29. There will be an opening reception Saturday July 7, 4-7 p.m. Gallery 705 is located at 705 Fulmer Avenue, Stroudsburg. For more information, directions and gallery hours, please call (570) 421-0833 or e-mail Galry705@ptd.net. Gallery 705 is on-line at www.Gallery705.com.