The Trenton Artists Workshop Association (TAWA) will present the exhibition Persistence at the Plainsboro Public Library.
“Persistence features work by regional artists who demonstrate persistence despite what are commonly perceived as obstacles: age, illness and physical and neurological problems,” Byron Aubrey, the show’s curator, said in a statement. “In addition to providing a venue for artists to come together and share work, Persistence is designed to encourage others by showing how these artists use art to enhance their lives and continue their pursuit of art.”
The artwork spans a wide variety of mediums and styles. A reception will be held Sunday, Jan. 20 from 2 to 4 p.m., with an artists’ talk taking place at 3 p.m. The exhibit runs from Jan. 5 to 30.
TAWA provided the following backgrounds on the exhibiting artists:
Priscilla Snow Algava is a Princeton-based artist who works mainly in mono-prints and painting and is inspired by nature and the human spirit and figure. She has exhibited in various galleries in New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey as well as internationally. Algava has been receiving treatment for cancer over the past two years.
Justin Jedrzejczyk is a Trenton-area artist and has shown his work locally and in New York City. He mainly does portraits, using friends as models in everyday settings and paints in acrylic on canvas. Over the past several years he has been dealing with a neurological problem that has affected his eyesight.
Ken Alexander is a self-taught Trenton-based painter. His work focuses on the human experience in various settings. Despite being visually impaired, he uses vivid colors in his work and tends to use abstraction in representing his figures.
Mark Wilkie, a Hamilton native, uses various detailed shapes and works in pen and pencil and has a neurological classification.
Mel Leipzig is an award-winning artist. He is a painter who dedicates his career to painting people in their own environments. His painting of Michael Austin shows the human spirit and represents how an artist can use art to overcome obstacles to strengthen their lives. The 83-year-old Leipzig shows that age is no obstacle to new work.
Karey Maurice is a Princeton-based artist who works in multiple mediums and works in the style of neo pop and suffers from a spinal cord degeneration. He studied visual arts at Mercer County Community College with Mel Leipzig and Frank Rivera and mentored under New York-based Pop artist Keith Haring.
Curator Byron Aubrey is a Trenton-born Hamilton resident who is active in drawing, photography and painting and who studies visual arts at Mercer County Community College. He studied and was mentored under Pricilla Algava and Mel Leipzig and has a neurological classification. This is the first show he has curated.
TAWA is a Greater Trenton nonprofit organization and has a history of more than 30 years exhibiting in such venues as the New Jersey State Museum, Torenton City Museum, Artworks Trenton, Prince Street Gallery in New York City, and more.
The Plainsboro Library is located at 9 Van Doren St., Plainsboro. For more information, call (609) 275-2897 or visit plainsborolibrary.org.
Portrait by Justin Jedrzejczyk,
