PHILIP GERSTEIN All is optional but not art
BIO
PHILIP GERSTEIN pgerst@fas.harvard.edu
Born and raised in Moscow, USSR, Philip Gerstein began exhibiting his work in the 1980’s with the Boston Visual Artists Union, after pursuing a PhD in Art History at Harvard University. He studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Japanese calligraphy with Toshu Ogawa.
Philip has been exhibiting in New York City, Provincetown MA, and extensively in the Boston area, as well as organizing and curating painting and photography shows. His work has been touted in such publications as The Boston Globe, ArtScope Magazine, and Art New England, and NYC art blogs. Philip is also a published essayist; his online feature "The Art of Philip Gerstein" is published monthly in Scene4 – International Magazine of Arts and Culture, and receives thousands of views every month.
Monthly online feature "The Art of Philip Gerstein" in:
Scene4 - International Magazine of Arts and Culture
Latest: "Abstraction, Reloaded", Jan.2023
Other Examples: ~~ May 2022 feature ("Spring Bouquet of Minimalism")
~~ Feb 2021 feature ("To Cross the Rubicon")
~~ July 2021 feature ("Sometimes There Is Bliss")
~~ Nov 2020 feature ("Of Fire and Optimism")
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Array Contemporary, Boston MA
Lichtundfire, New York NY
UPCOMING / CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Group Shows, S.H.E. (Shared Habitat Earth), March-April 2023
-- Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont MA -- Opening March 12, 2-4 pm
-- Quincy Art Association, Quincy MA -- Opening March 25, 3-5 pm
The Empty & the Full, Array Contemporary on ARTSY (CURATED BY: Philip Gerstein), online Jan-Mar 2023
The Painting Center Benefit (curated), The Painting Center on ARTSY, New York NY, online Nov.10-Jan.25
Abstract Art: Contemporary Approaches, Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown MA, Dec.1 - Jan.13
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS /Recent/
Sometimes There Is Bliss AMP: Art Market Provincetown, Provincetown MA (2021)
The Color of Seasons: Nature and Abstraction in the Paintings of Carolyn Newberger and Philip Gerstein,
(Expanded 2-person show) Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA. (Scheduled Apr. 2020 -- cancelled due to Covid-19).
View/order a 50-page EXHIBITION CATALOG --Catalog reviewed
Sometimes There Is Bliss, Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA (2018) --reviewed
Sacred Asymmetry, The Painting Center, Chelsea, New York, NY (2017) --reviewed
Wild at Heart: Works on Paper & Other Adventures, Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA (2017) --reviewed
Recent Paintings, Abstract Art Online / Galerie Cerulean (2016).
Being There: Abstract Paintings of Philip Gerstein, Andre Zarre Gallery, Chelsea, NY, NY (2015)--reviewed
¡ EXPERIMENT ! Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA (2015) --reviewed
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GROUP SHOWS /Selection/
2022
INTERSTELLAR -- Between Stars (7th Anniversary Show) LICHTUNDFIRE, New York, NY -- Nov-Dec
Still Friends (Invitational) Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston MA -- July-Aug
Emotional Landscapes Array Contemporary on ARTSY -- online May
Minimal Force LICHTUNDFIRE, New York, NY -- Apr
Cosmic Storm LICHTUNDFIRE, New York, NY -- Mar
--reviewed in Art511Mag Mar 2022 ("'Cosmic Storm' at Lichtundfire", by Jonathan Goodman):
"Philip Gerstein’s abstraction... -- highly sophisticated painting".
(CURATED/EXHIBITED:) Space <--> Color <--> Movement: Lyrical Realism into Poetic Abstraction
3-person show with Alexandra Rozenman & Jo Ann Rothschild
Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville MA -- Jan-Feb --reviewed & reproduced
The Indivisible Spectrum: The Painting Center Invitational -- curated by JoAnne McFarland
The Painting Center, (Chelsea) New York, NY -- Feb
Stratosphere: A 6-year Anniversary Exhibition LICHTUNDFIRE, New York, NY -- Jan
2021
Drawing Challenge XXIII Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC online Sept
Group Show AMP: Art Market Provincetown, Provincetown MA
Thoughts Produce Noise Landau Gallery by Array Contemporary, Belmont MA
In Full Bloom LICHTUNDFIRE , New York, NY --
--reviewed on Piri Halasz' blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Aug. 14, 2021
https://www.pirihalasz.com/blog/posts/39303
12x12 PAAM Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA
The Passage of Time Array Contemporary at Moakley Federal Courthouse Gallery, Boston MA
Collective Consciousness Array Contemporary at Beacon Street Gallery, Brookline MA
Drawing Challenge XXI Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC online May
Drawing Challenge XX Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC online Apr
Drawing Challenge XIX Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC online Mar
the world that has been given Jason McCoy Gallery, New York NY, on ARTSY
(re)Tell HallSpace, Boston MA
Drawing Challenge XVIII Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC online Feb
Drawing Challenge XVII Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC online Jan
The Future Is Many Colors Array Contemporary at Moakley Federal Courthouse, Boston MA
2020
Spring Flash! - a Pop-Up Virtual Exhibition, Equity Gallery, New York, NY
PAAM Show, Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA
Droplets: Hallspace Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston MA
(CO-CURATED/EXHIBITED:) The Future Is Many Colors, Array Contemporary online
2019
(CURATED/EXHIBITED:) Sacred Asymmetry - Abstraction Boston/New York, HallSpace, Boston MA.
Exhibiting Artists: Francine Tint, Jo Ann Rothschild, Susan Roth, Marjorie Minkin,
Sarah Hinckley, Philip Gerstein. -- reviewed
That’s Cliché, or Not, Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston MA
Resist, Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA
2018
Sideshow Nation VI: The Greatest Show on Earth, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY --reviewed
PAAM Show, Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA
B4 Peace: Building a Peaceable Community Art Invitational,
(part of "Prospect 4: New Orleans Art Triennial"), New Orleans Art Center, New Orleans LA
2017
Sideshow Nation V, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY -- reviewed
Inherent Vitality, 555 Gallery, South Boston, MA -- reviewed
2016
Invitational 3, ArtHelix/SHIM, Bushwick, Brooklyn NY
Unusual Politics: The Madness of Reality, (invitational) The Viridian Artists Gallery, Chelsea, New York, NY
Small Works, Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, NY (juried by Richard Timperio)
Landscapes, Temporary Storage Gallery, BFP Creative, Brooklyn NY
Winter Juried, Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA (juried by Gus and Arlette Kayafas,
Gallery Kayafas, Boston MA)
Sideshow Nation IV: Through the Rabbit Hole, Sideshow Gallery (in collaboration with Life on Mars Gallery),
Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY -- reviewed
2015
Sideshow Nation III: Circle the Wagons!!! Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY -- reviewed
Summer Selections Show, Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA
In Sight, Lunder Center for the Arts, Lesley University, Cambridge MA
2014
Sideshow Nation II – the Alamo, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY -- reviewed
21 & Counting: The Painting Center Turns 21, The Painting Center, Chelsea, New York, NY
25th International Juried Exhibition, Viridian Artists Gallery, Chelsea, New York, NY
(juried by Katherine Brinson, Curator at the Guggenheim Museum) -- reviewed
Summer Show, Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA
2013
Sideshow Nation, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
Summer Show, Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA.
Off the Wall, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham MA (juried by Dina Deitch, Curator of Contemporary Art, DeCordova Museum)
2012
Summer Show, Joyce Chasan Fine Art / Artsource International, New York, NY
12th Annual Invitational, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY -- reviewed
2011
(CURATED/EXHIBITED:) Reaching for the Sky: 4 Artists Working w/Color, Hutson Gallery, Ptown MA --reviewed
Juried Exhibition, Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA (juried by Allison Kemmerer, Addison Gallery of American Art)
Juried Show, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham MA (selected by Katherine French, Museum Director)
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CURATORIAL PROJECTS / WRITING ON ART:
WRITING/PUBLISHING: “The Art of Philip Gerstein” (Oct 2020 – Present): Monthly online feature in
Scene4 - International Magazine of Arts and Culture. (See above.)
Example: "Philip Guston in Boston", (Oct 2022) -- review of Boston MFA show, 9 illustrations.
CURATED/EXHIBITED: The Empty & the Full (Jan-Mar 2023) Array Contemporary on ARTSY.
CURATED/ORGANIZED/EXHIBITED: -- (3-person show; Jan-Feb 2022),
"Lyrical Realism into Poetic Abstraction", Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville MA.
( Exhibiting Artists:) Alexandra Rozenman, Jo Ann Rothschild, Philip Gerstein --
Reviewed/reproduced in ArtScope Magazine, "Highly Permeable Beings: Rozenman,
Gerstein & Rothschild Align at Brickbottom", Jan/Feb 2022, p.40-43, (James Foritano).
--view Installation images
CO-CURATED/EXHIBITED: "The Future Is Many Colors" (2020) Array Contemporary on ARTSY.
CURATING/EXHIBITING project: "Out of This World: Sci-Fi & Fantasy in Art",
(Scheduled Sep.2020 - postponed by Covid), Maud Morgan Art Center, Cambridge MA
CO-WROTE/PRODUCED/PUBLISHED: “The Color of Seasons: Nature and Abstraction
in the Paintings of Carolyn Newberger and Philip Gerstein” (Spr/Sum 2020):
50 p. 32 color ill. CATALOG of Apr 2020 Boston exhibition. View/order EXHIBITION CATALOG.
The Catalog reviewed/reproduced by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Dec. 1, 2020.
(Also INCLUDED: award-winning Essay “Parallel Paths That Intersect” by Brian George -- subsequently
PUBLISHED w/my introduction & images in Scene4 - International Magazine of Arts and Culture ).
CURATED/PUBLISHED: “What We Have Wrought: Photographs of Mags Harries, Neal Rantoul, Eleanor Steinadler”, (Apr 2019) 3-person invitational photography show, Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA.
PUBLISHED: extensive Curatorial Statement (w/images).
Recommended/reproduced: “Best Photo Picks 4/19”, online Boston photo magazine What Will You Remember?
CURATED/ORGANIZED/EXHIBITED: “Sacred Asymmetry -- Abstraction Boston/New York” (12/2018 – 1/2019)
HallSpace, Boston MA. (Exhibiting Artists:) Francine Tint, Jo Ann Rothschild, Susan Roth, Marjorie Minkin,
Sarah Hinckley, Philip Gerstein. Musical & dance performances paired with specific artworks.
Featured/recommended - The Boston Globe, Dec.23, 2018 (Cate McQuaid). INSTALLATION VIEWS
CURATED/EXHIBITED/PUBLISHED: “Reaching for the Sky: 4 Artists Working with Color” (5-6/2011),
Hutson Gallery, Provincetown, MA.
PUBLISHED: Color Essay (on history of color in Modernism), in The Provincetown Magazine, May 19, 2011, p.28-31.
The Essay also won a competition, as one of two essays PUBLISHED as:
Gerstein, Philip. "Art of Color: Beauty in art comes in so many forms; art of color is a special case of it",
International Painting Annual 4. 1st. Cincinnati: Manifest Press, 2014. Print