Andrew Werth of West Windsor has two art exhibits opening in November. “Patterns & Meaning” is Werth’s featured show this year at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville. He will also have a half dozen paintings at a three-person exhibition at ArtTimesTwo Gallery at 731 Alexander Road in West Windsor.
“Patterns & Meaning” is a shared exhibition featuring the art of Alan J. Klawans and Werth. Using the formal terms of abstraction such as color, contrast, composition, and repetition, Klawans and Werth encourage viewers to explore the relationship between the visual image and meaning. The show runs from Friday, November 9, through Sunday, December 2. A reception with the artists will be held at the gallery on Saturday, November 10, from 3 to 6 p.m.
Werth, a former computer engineer turned artist, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of mathematician Alan Turing by presenting paintings that use “Turing Patterns” for their underlying structure. Turing, in addition to being famous for his work on computer science, artificial intelligence, and cryptography, also wrote an influential paper describing how certain processes in nature could produce forms like the patterns on zebras and leopards.
Werth simulates these processes on the computer and embeds meaning in his images by twisting, tweaking, and otherwise transforming the patterns before turning them into paintings. He carefully designs the color transitions and then hand-paints thousands of individual marks of color so that the images have an optical depth that belies their flat surface.
Born in New York City in 1969, Werth was raised in Freehold and Teaneck — with a brief detour to California. A graduate from Teaneck High School, Werth earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and a master’s degree in information networking, both from Carnegie Mellon University.
Werth moved to West Windsor in 2005. His wife, Karen Yee, is the manager of strategic pricing and offer development at Novo Nordisk.
“I began making paintings consistently in 2004, after several years of study at art classes in schools throughout Manhattan (including the Arts Students League, the School of Visual Arts, and the New School) and really made it my full time pursuit in 2005,” he says. His paintings have been exhibited at many tri-state venues from Philadelphia to New York.
Werh has no regrets about leaving his day jon in IT. “As a software developer, most of what you write fades away,” he told Ilene Dube, writing for U.S. 1. “But I hope my paintings allow me to be a part of people’s lives for a long time.”
Art Exhibit, Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville. Saturday, November 10, 3 to 6 p.m. Opening reception for “Patterns and Meaning,” a shared exhibit of works by Alan J. Klawans and Andrew Werth. Both use color, contrast, composition, and repetition to explore the relationship between the visual image and meaning. On view to December 2. 609-397-4588. www.lambertvillearts.com.
Art Exhibit, Princeton Brain and Spine Institute, 731 Alexander Road, West Windsor. “Energy in Mind: Picturing Consciousness” featuring works by Jennifer Cadoff, Debra Weir, and Andrew Werth. Through April 30. 609-203-4622. www.princetonbrainandspine.com.
