A new avant-garde gallery has opened in Connecticut and its first show will feature 78 artists from New York, New England and the Midwest.
The gallery, Underwater Kite, is in Windsor and the inaugural exhibition, “Tar & Feathers”, is designed to bring together artwork in the disciplines of painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation art. Some of the work reflects current events, while others “explore personal issues or pure celebrations of color, form and concept,” according to the venue.
The opening, at 150 Broad St., Windsor, takes places from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 20.
The new gallery is the brainchild of Antony Zito, portrait artist, mural painter, and former associate director of Parkville Art Gallery. His experience spans three decades including Zito Studio Gallery in Manhattan and director emeritus of the NYC nonprofit that presented Portal/Governors Island Art Fair. Pulling from his immersion in the NY and Connecticut art scenes, Zito brought together what he considers the cream of the crop for the very first public invitation into Underwater Kite, he said.
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“Underwater Kite is a purposefully curated white-box gallery,” Zito said. “Part of the new renaissance that the town of Windsor is currently in the midst of. We aim to provide an anchor of support for the local arts community – featuring art that is not so formally traditional, or heady and over-conceptualized – but work that takes chances, is more bold and vital – rich in ideas, color and emotional depth.”
Zito partnered with Cynthia Bulaong, the executive director of the nonprofit, Artists in Real Time, Inc. In the Connecticut art scene, Bulaong’s name is synonymous with large-scale event production. A.R.T. presents the annual, sprawling Open Studio Hartford, as well as Art in the Park Manchester, and other regional cultural experiences. The two joined forces over the goal to fill the need for a new art gallery in the Greater Hartford area – one with a dynamic aesthetic vision – and as part of the renaissance that Windsor is in the midst of, according to Zito.
“With a tip of the hat to the concept of cancel culture – both past and present – some of the work in this show reflects current events, while many of the selections explore more personal issues – as well as pure celebrations of color, form and concept. Art-making has always been activism, and especially in these times, the creation and presentation of art is at the heart of cultural discourse,” according to organizers.
Find the Underwater Art Shop offerings of small works, prints, books, and apparel at 150 Broad St., Suite 101, Windsor. Food and beverage Saturday will be in partnership with THE BOP Coffee House. Email, underwaterkite@gmail.com or call 212-673-9074.