“Black & White,” curated by Elizabeth Smith Jacobs and Pam Cooper, explores the vast range of color that exists between these two opposites. Many renowned artists have employed this black-to-white range in their work, including Ad Reinhardt’s “black” paintings, Robert Ryman’s “white” paintings, Ansel Adams’ iconic photographs, William Kentridge’s drawings and videos, Louise Nevelson’s sculptures, and the prints of Chuck Close. Black and white distills an image to its essentials. For the artists in this exhibit the use of black and white is an aesthetic choice.

The curators consciously chose black and white artwork for the exhibit that represents a wide variety of mediums, styles and subjects, including realistic photographs, abstract pastels, simple line drawings, lush landscapes and detailed collages. Donna Levinstone’s pastel, “Eternal Waters II” and Bonnie Maranz’s charcoal drawing, “Structures from the Floating World” both convey immense space and grandeur, contrasting sharply with Raul Gil’s photograph depicting three Boggle players, deep in concentration, staring at the brightly lit iconic game in the middle of the table. Like Gil’s piece, Robin Fruchter’s linocut, “Cozy Chair,” depicts a homey scene. With its deep shadows, the effect is slightly claustrophobic and somewhat less than cozy. Heidi Sussman’s digital photograph, “Silent Stix” is pure and simple – a black branch in stark relief against a white background. Yvette Lucas’ “Barbed Tree and Egg Rock,” also portrays a tree branch but emphasizes the light and shadows, the subtle grays between the two extremes.  The pieces in the exhibit have translated the theme of black and white in surprising, innovative and remarkably interesting ways.

Artists featured in this exhibit are: Marion R Behr, Ron Brown, Angela Cali, Buel Ecker, Leslie A. Ford, Robin Fruchter, Raul Gil, Alice Harrison, Joyce S. Hollander, Phyllis K. Huggett, Charles Hunter, Peter Jacobs, Jill Kennington, Catherine Kinkade, Donna Levinstone, Monica Litvany, Yvette Lucas, Bonnie Maranz, Clarence Mather, Nancy Ori, Isabella Pizzano, Ruby Reichardt, Hilary Shank-Kuhl, Caren Sommer-Lazar, Heidi Sussman, Peter O. Tilgner, and Diane Whitebay.

Elizabeth Smith Jacobs is an artist and a teacher who has been a part of the Montclair arts community for over twenty years. She has a BFA from SUNY Purchase and a Masters in Art Education from NYU. She owns and operates The Clay Studio in Montclair and has created a variety of community public art projects throughout town.

Pam Cooper is a mixed media artist employing sculpture, papermaking and printing. She has curated exhibitions for a number of non-profit organizations in the metro area and has also served as a corporate art consultant and curator for the past five years.