Chuck O'Connor and Norman Turner
Curated by Charles Cajori
Significant anniversaries are approaching for the New York Studio School: we were founded in 1964, and moved to Eighth Street in 1965. In the last forty years, many men and women have progressed to distinguished and dedicated careers in art, and some have remained in the fold as teachers and supporters of the School.
We are especially delighted to honor the work of Chuck O'Connor and Norman Turner in a joint exhibition. Back in the 1960s, Chuck and Norman joined Mercedes Matter and other founder faculty and students in a bold venture that challenged prevailing notions about art and how it should be taught. Both exhibitors have maintained close associations with the School. More significantly, both are tenacious and inspired in the way they have extended, tested, and made their own the principles and values they first began to explore as founder students of the Studio School. As the show demonstrates, a leaning towards figuration or towards abstraction is not the issue. More vital than such a distinction of style are the commonality of vision, the wrestling with form, the centrality of drawing.
We are grateful to Charles Cajori, a current and founder member of the School's teaching faculty, for curating this exhibition. As ever, we are in debt to an indefatiguable team of students for their professional installation of the show.
Graham Nickson
Dean
David Cohen
Gallery Director
Curator's Statement »
Normal 0 0 1 160 914 7 1 1122 11.1282 0 0 0 Retrospectives by their nature reveal a history of choices. The options which an artist faces before a blank piece of canvas or sheet of paper are infinite. The process of sorting out what is to be done ...
About Chuck O'Connor »
Normal 0 0 1 98 564 4 1 692 11.1282 0 0 0 Normal 0 0 1 10 62 1 1 76 11.1282 0 0 0 Chuck O'Connor, Untitled, 1997. Pastel and gesso on paper, 39 x 28 inches Chuck O'Connor was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1943 and ...
About Norman Turner »
Normal 0 0 1 99 567 4 1 696 11.1282 0 0 0 Normal 0 0 1 12 72 1 1 88 11.1282 0 0 0 Norman Turner, Model in the Studio, 1994. Charcoal and pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches Norman Turner was born in Storm Lake, ...
Essay »
Normal 0 0 1 2806 15998 133 31 19646 11.1282 0 0 0 Essay by: Norman Turner "There is nothing stable in the world; uproar's your only music." -John Keats In my studio is a kitchen table salvaged from the street, its porcelain top is a useful palette. ...
Discussion and Comments »
Normal 0 0 1 731 4172 34 8 5123 11.1282 0 0 0 Jen Wechsler, a student at the New York Studio School, responds to the exhibition. Join the debate; send your comments to David Cohen, gallery director. What I first noticed, seeing the work of Norman Turner and Chuck ...