Shanee Epstein is an artist who lives and works in New York. Raised in Massachusetts in an artistic family, her precocious development included early training in sculpture, pottery and painting at her uncle's studio on Cape Cod and later, traditional figurative classes at the Worcester Art Museum. After studying art education and psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Epstein moved to New York where she received her MFA at Pratt Institute. Exposure to a broader range of styles and theories stimulated the young artist's exploration of a new visual vocabulary and she began work in collage and assemblage.
An artist, an educator and a parent for the past twenty years, Epstein weaves these identities into her creative life. Anchored in the fundamentals of formal training and enriched by a life steeped in emotional intelligence and understanding, Epstein's art has evolved into abstract lyrical expressionism. In her most recent work she abandoned all figurative rendering in order to explore color relationships. This radical stylistic departure resulted in paintings with a layered richness and nuanced harmonies. The work is both complex, yet playful with a bold simplicity.
In January 2005, Epstein partnered with Nancy Lunsford to found the 440 Gallery, an artists run collective in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The Gallery produces over ten solo shows a year and hosts several group shows including an ongoing members exhibit and a curated annual Small Works show.
Epstein lives in Park Slope with her musician husband and two artistically gifted sons. She continues painting with the consistency, discipline and risk taking that exemplifies the full-fleshed career of one whose art is integral to her life.
Visit her website at www.shaneeart.com
WORK
EXHIBITIONS
440 Gallery, Small Works Show, 2005
440 Gallery, Mixed Metaphors, 2005
Sol Goldman YMHA, Exhibition of Collages, 2003
Sol Goldman YMHA, Exhibition of Painting, 1999
Educational Alliance Work on the Holocaust, 1995
Puck Gallery, Group Show, 1991
Pratt Institute, Drawing Show, 1990
SYNC Gallery, Landscapes, Northampton MA 1988
Northampton Center for the Arts, An Exhibition of Two Artists, Northampton MA, 1987
Valley Women Artists, Juried Show, Northampton MA 1986
Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts Woman Artists, Amherst MA 1985
AWARDS
Pratt Institute Award for Printing, 1991
EDUCATION
Pratt Institute, MFA (Printing), 1991
University of Massachusetts Amherst, BFA (Education), 1984
Studio Classes, Worcester Art Museum School Worcester, MA, 1976-80
STATEMENT
My paintings span from figurative to abstraction, from landscape to collage. The common strand is a love of color, texture, shape, line and form. As I work, I am moved by how one color sits next to another and how one material plays off another. My work is layered to create complex richness yet honors simplicity. I love the language of art and have studied formally for many years, yet the surprises and visual nuances still excite me. This delight echoes some of my earliest memories of playing with clay as a child. Being an artist is at the core of who I am and how I experience the world.
My new work focuses on color, both the simplicity and complexity of color: its freshness, its sensory pleasure, the complexity of its transitions and its deep spiritual essence.
