SOMA NewArt Gallery is pleased to announce, "Variations on a Muse" a solo exhibition by renowned regional artist Stan Sperlak.
Sperlak's paintings are a series of colorful, personal journey's or 'stories' that capture the subtle natural beauty of the Jersey Shore. With vivid mastery, Stan
distills the landscapes into their essential color and form and enhances the visual
appeal by reducing the discordant realities into a subtle yet powerful
unity. This sensational new work brings another dimension to a career that has
made Stan Sperlak one of the most respected and collected artists
working in the region.
"This show revolves around my love of the skies,
marshes, oceans and fields of southern New Jersey. It is the timeless
subject material, very satisfying for me and changing constantly. God
gives us such beauty, I can only hope to capture a few of the moments
that I can share with others who may not be able to take this time, or
who do, but are not satisfied with a photographic remembrance, who
instead wish to indulge in an artist's fancy." Sperlaks new paintings
are imbued with the different moods of the landscape, "how I am living
in it, this day, this year, this way."
Stan Sperlak has recently been awarded signature status (PSA) of the Pastel Society of America, a very high honor reserved for only a very few hundred artist in the United States. Sperlak is also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters, the Maryland Pastel Society, and Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts in Millville. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Stan teaches pastel painting in the plein-air tradition at his many pastel workshops throughout the United States and in 2011 is invited to teach in Scotland on the Isle of Skye.
STAN SPERLAK PSA - RESUME
PROFESSIONAL PAINTER Primarily a landscape artist, who paints from life, with strong emphasis on color as emotion thru very simply rendered subject matter. Fields, marshes, dunes, skies and maritime scenes are the genre represented recently. Sperlak has experience teaching and co-ordination of plein air workshops. All work is in soft pastel only, painted on supports ranging from coated grounds and boards to hand made papers. EDUCATION 1997 -2002 Barn Studio of Art, Millville, NJ Patricia Vanaman Witt, Director 1995-1998 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pa SHOWS 2010 3rd Solo Show SOMA Gallery, Cape May, NJ Solo Show Wm Ris Gallery, Stone Harbor, NJ Two Person Show Main Street Gallery Annapolis, MD 2009 2nd Solo Show SOMA Gallery, Cape May, NJ Two Person Show William Ris Galleries, Stone Harbor, NJ Solo Show Bishop's Stock Gallery, Snow Hill, MD Two Person Show Laura Craig Gallery, Scranton, PA Group Shows Academy of Notre Dame, Yellow Springs & Mainline Art 2008 3rd Solo Show Avery & Powers Gallery Avalon, NJ Solo Show SOMA Gallery Cape May, NJ One Man Show Bishop's Stock Gallery, Snow Hill MD Group Show Brandywine Plein Air, (10) Hardcastle Gallery, Centreville, DE 2007 2nd Solo Show Avery & Powers/Gilt Complex, Avalon NJ Three Person Show Main Street Gallery, Annapolis MD 4th Solo Show Riverfront Renaissance Center, Millville, NJ Group Show Artists(7)of Ashland Hollow, Hardcastle Gallery Centreville, DE Group Show Art for Living, Mainline Art Center, Philadelphia, PA 2006 Solo Show Avery & Powers, Gilt Complex Galleries, Avalon, NJ Two Man Show Bishop's Stock Gallery, Snow Hill, MD Three Person Show Main Street Gallery, Annapolis MD Museum Exhibition Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ 2005 Solo Show Gallery 50, Bridgeton, NJ Group Show Main Street Gallery, Annapolis MD Solo Show Peter McPhee Gallery Stone Harbor NJ 2004 Paint Annapolis Exhibiting Member, Maryland Center/Creative Arts Annapolis 3rd Solo Show Riverfront Renaissance Center, Millville, NJ Group Show Evolution of a Painting: Globe Theatre, Berlin MD Two Man Show Millville, NJ RRCA Center Group Show Historic Yellow Springs Art Show, Yellow Springs, PA 2003 2nd Solo Show Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, Millville, NJ Group Show Mainline Art Center Annual Juried Exhibition Group Show Alice Steer Wilson Invitational, Cape May, NJ 2002 Solo Show Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, Millville, NJ Invitational Show Ocean Gallery, Stone Harbor, NJ (4 Artists ) Works on Paper Philadelphia Sketch Club 2000-3 Juried Show Manayunk Art Festival, Philadelphia, Pa 2001 Invitational Show Third Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa National Juried Show Artsbridge 7th Annual, Stockton, NJ 2000 Juried State Show American Artist Professional League Ocean City, NJ 1996 Juried Student Show Penn. Academy of the Fine Arts (Annual Show) AWARDS (artist has chosen not to compete for awards since 2003) 2003 Featured Artist New Jersey State Council for the Arts Artist for July 2003 Bronze Award Annual Juried Show Cape May County Art League 2002 2nd Place "The Pastel 100" National Comp. (Abstract Division) 2001 1st Place Annual Juried Show Cape May County Art League 2001 Best of Show Annual Juried Show Merchantville, New Jersey 2000 Hon Mention State Show American Artist Prof League, Ocean City 1999 Hon Mention Annual Juried Show Cape May County Art League GROUPS Pastel Society of America Signature Member Maryland Pastel Society Signature Member Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters Assoc., Annapolis MD Full Member Cape May County Art League Past President Atlantic Plein Air Painters Signature Member Goshen, NJ Colorado Pastel Society Full Member Riverfront Renaissance Art Center Member/Artist Millville, NJ GALLERIES Bishop's Stock Gallery, Snow Hill MD Main Street Gallery, Annapolis, MD Hardcastle Gallery, Centreville, DE SOMA Gallery, Cape May, NJ William Ris Galleries, Stone Harbor, NJ Laura Craig Galleries, Scranton, PA
TEACHING University of Maryland/ Ocean City Guest Professor Atlantic Cape Community College Guest Artist Series Workshop NJ Media Workshops/Nancy Ori LTD Plein Air Workshops Cape May, NJ Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, Millville, NJ Wayne Art Center, Philadelphia, PA PUBLICATIONS The View From My Easel (BOOK) 120 Page Decade retrospective of Stan Sperlak Pastel Journal, March 2002 Re: 2nd Place Abstracted Landscape Blue Roads Magazine Inaugural Edition Center story Pastel Journal, October 2005 Feature story on Painting Skies New Jersey Lifestyle May 2006 Feature story on the Arts in New Jersey House & Home (National) June 2006 Feature Story Cape May Magazine June 2008 Regional Artists
Stan Sperlak's book - The View From My Easel
Over his career, Stan has created an outstanding body of work inspired by the dramatic natural beauty of the Cape May peninsula. This book is a sensational compilation of Stan's work, filled with vivid pastel paintings of Southern Jersey, it brings another opportunity to view some of the many paintings created by one of the most respected and collected artists working in the region.
Available at SOMA NewArt Gallery - $ 45
To view Stan Sperlak's complete 2009 exhibit: CLICK HERE
