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 NYC, Provincetown MA, and very extensively in the Boston area, as well as organizing and curating painting and photography shows. His work has been reviewed, reproduced and praised in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, ArtScope Magazine, and Art New England, and he is the author of the prize-winning essay, “Art of Color: Beauty in art comes in so many forms; art of color is a special case of it." International Painting Annual 4. Cincinnati: Manifest Press, 2014.
CURRENT / UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
View/buy a 50-page EXHIBITION CATALOG (Lulu.com) here!
featuring an exceptional Essay: "Parallel Paths That Intersect" by Brian George;
This Essay has just been published, as main featured article of September issue,
with our reproductions, in the international online journal of Art & Culture -- Scene4
The Color of Seasons: Nature and Abstraction
in the Paintings of Carolyn Newberger and Philip Gerstein
Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA -- Scheduled April 2020 -- cancelled due to Covid-19;
For show images see: ARTSY ;
Also presented as virtual ONLINE EXHIBITION on Facebook April 2-17..
NYAE Spring Flash! a Pop-Up Virtual Exhibition,
Equity Gallery, New York, NY -- April 10-30, 2020 (and on ARTSY).
PAAM Show -- Provincetown Art Museum -- Summer 2020.
Droplets: Hallspace Drawing Project -- Hallspace, Boston MA -- Sep-Oct 2020.
Scheduled Sep 2020/postponed: Curating/exhibiting: "Out of This World: Sci-Fi & Fantasy in Art",
Maud Morgan Art Center, Cambridge MA.
Recent SOLO EXHIBITIONS :
Sometimes There Is Bliss at Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA in Oct. 2018
--reproduced in ArtScope Magazine, Sept/Oct 2018, and reviewed in ArtScope Magazine Online, "October Treat: Gerstein, Margolin & Komarow at Galatea" by Brian Goslow, Oct. 22, 2018 ("These colors can vibrate within us, these textures and compositions can move us physically... .")
--reviewed at length on Galatea Blog, "Appasionata on Color" by Frank Capezzera, Oct. 17, 2018.
Sacred Asymmetry at The Painting Center, Chelsea, New York, NY in Oct-Nov 2017
--reviewed at length and reproduced by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" ("Gerstein and Others: Chelsea Roundup", Nov.25, 2017: "...I liked it a lot... the colors are restrained but quite pure and individual... . Everything works together quite harmoniously, but not loudly – entices by its subtlety... a great deal of care and consideration and decidedly touching".)
--featured and reproduced on the "Art in New York City" blog, here.
Wild at Heart: Works on Paper & Other Adventures at Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA in Apr 2017
--reviewed, with several reproductions in Art New England Blog/Portfolio ("Adventures in Abstraction: Philip Gerstein at Galatea", Apr. 26, 2017, by Olivia J. Kiers--> "...rewarding... a masterful solo show... energetic, joyous and intellectually demanding...").
Solo Online show at Abstract Art Online / Galerie Cerulean in May-June 2016.
Being There: Abstract Paintings of Philip Gerstein at Andre Zarre Gallery, Chelsea, New York, NY. June-July 2015
--reviewed and reproduced by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" July 17, 2015: "... lovely... attractive... distinctive... provocative... a dash of gaiety... pleasure at the sight..".
--featured and reproduced on the "Art in New York City" blog, here.
¡ EXPERIMENT ! at Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA in Apr 2015
--reviewed and reproduced in Art New England Magazine (May-June 2015 -- Susan Boulanger: "... color harmonies from the boldest complementary to the subtlest analogy... dynamic balance recalling one of Hans Hofmann's looser abstracts... complex, elusive and shimmering islands of pigment... . Each work here, as the artist intended, concludes a phase in the ongoing experiment of creating worlds through color." )
--reviewed and reproduced in ArtScope (Blog Apr. 2, 2015-- Sarah Kinkade)
--for a video of an accompanying musical performance, click here.
Philip Gerstein: 2 Decades of Paintings, at Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA in Apr 2013. (For installation images click here)
--previewed by Elissa della-Piana, director, Gallery Della Piana (see it here).
About Color, at Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA in Apr 2010.
The Distant Sound of Rain In Spring Valleys, at the Bromfield Gallery, Boston MA in Nov. 2008 (for a poetic statement click here)
--reviewed and reproduced in Berkshire Fine Arts blog (by Shawn Hill), Nov 11, 2008.
Recent (selected) GROUP SHOWS :
2020
Droplets: Hallspace Drawing Project HallSpace, Boston MA -- Aug-Sep;
Spring Flash! - a Pop-Up Virtual Exhibition Equity Gallery, New York, NY -- April;
PAAM Show Provincetown Art Museum -- Summer 2020.
2019
National Juried Show Rockport Art Association & Museum -- Nov 2019 - Jan 2020
-- reproduced in Salem Times;
"That’s Cliché, or Not", Drawing Project HallSpace, Boston MA -- Sep-Oct;
Resist Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA -- Mar-May;
Curated/exhibited in: Sacred Asymmetry - Abstraction Boston/New York at HallSpace, Boston MA in Dec 2018-Jan 2019:
Exhibiting Artists: Francine Tint, Jo Ann Rothschild, Susan Roth, Marjorie Minkin, Sarah Hinckley, Philip Gerstein.
Featured/recommended in The Boston Globe Dec.23, 2018 (Cate McQuaid).
For exhibition views click here. For exhibition checklist click here. For videos of accompanying musical performances, see: 1) New Language Collaborative (trio); 2) Black Sheep Contemporary Ensemble (with dancers);
ICE (Invitational) Galatea Fine Art, Boston MA -- Feb. (For exhibition images click here .)
2018
Paper Chassis, Drawing Project HallSpace, Boston MA;
My painting, "Blessed Are the Peacemakers", reproduced in the following publication: "Weathering Change: An Art Anthology in
Response to Climate Change", Harvard University, 2018;
PAAM Show Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA;
Sideshow Nation VI: The Greatest Show on Earth Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
-- reviewed by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Feb.25, 2018 ("Once More, The Greatest Show on Earth");
B4 Peace: Building a Peaceable Community Art Invitational, (part of Prospect 4: New Orleans Art Triennial) New Orleans Art Center,
New Orleans LA. (One of my 3 paintings used as an online poster for the show.)
2017
Random Act of Art Wave Gallery, Watertown MA;
My paintings are juried into Studio Visit Magazine, v.38, Summer 2017 (double spread);
Inherent Vitality 555 Gallery, South Boston, MA
-- reviewed by Elin Spring in Boston's online photography magazine "What Will You Remember?" June 15, 2017;
Sideshow Nation V Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
-- reviewed by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Feb.15, 2017.
2016
Invitational 3 ArtHelix/SHIM, Bushwick, Brooklyn NY;
Unusual Politics: The Madness of Reality (invitational) The Viridian Artists Gallery, Chelsea, New York, NY;
Metamorphosis Galatea at INKBLOCK, Boston MA;
Metamorphosis The Wave Gallery, Watertown MA;
My paintings are juried into Studio Visit Magazine, v.34, Summer 2016 (double spread);
Small Works Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, NY (juried by Richard Timperio);
Thesis/Antithesis: Small Works Salon 2016 Chandler Gallery, Maud Morgan Art Center, Cambridge MA (juried by Gerry Bergstein, SMFA);
Landscapes Temporary Storage Gallery, BFP Creative, Brooklyn NY;
Winter Juried Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA (juried by Gus and Arlette Kayafas, Kayafas Gallery, Boston MA);
Sideshow Nation IV: Through the Rabbit Hole Sideshow Gallery (in collaboration with Life on Mars Gallery), Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
-- reviewed by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Mar.3, 2016.
2015
Summer Selections Show Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA;
Art of Painting: National Juried Exhibition Washington Art Association, Washington CT (juried by William Bailey, Prof. Emer. at Yale U.);
In Sight Lunder Center for the Arts, Lesley University, Cambridge MA;
Sideshow Nation III: Circle the Wagons!!! Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
-- reviewed by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Feb.10, 2015.
2014
21 & Counting: The Painting Center Turns 21 at 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 by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" July 30, 2014 " …the best works in this show: two abstract paintings by Philip Gerstein… . These two 18-inch square panels were painted with deliciously muted but still colorful ... gestural strokes";
Regional Juried Show Barn Gallery, Ogunquit ME;
Summer Show Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA;
Proof of Purchase Samson Gallery, Boston MA;
Sideshow Nation II – the Alamo Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
-- reviewed by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Jan.27, 2014.
2013
Summer Show Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA.;
Off the Wall Danforth Art Museum, Framingham MA (juried by Dina Deitch, Curator of Contemporary Art, DeCordova Museum);
Sideshow Nation Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY;
Ways and Meanings (Penultimate Abstraction Show) The Gallery Della Piana, Wenham, MA.
2012
Summer Show Joyce Chasan Fine Art / Artsource International, New York, NY;
Modernists 2012 (4-person show) Judith Klein Art Gallery, New Bedford MA
-- reviewed in South Coast Today, June 07, 2012;
Invitational at Gallery 259, curated by Steven Muller, 259 A St., Boston MA;
12th Annual Invitational Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY;
-- reviewed by Piri Halasz on her art blog "From the Mayor's Doorstep" Jan.21, 2012;
Selections Group Show Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA.
2011
Juried Exhibition Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA (juried by Allison Kemmerer, Addison Gallery of American Art);
Curated/Exhibited: Reaching for the Sky: 4 Artists Working with Color Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA
-- reviewed extensively in Provincetown Magazine (4pp.);
White Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown MA;
Selections Group Show Hutson Gallery, Provincetown MA;
Juried Selections Show Danforth Art Museum, Framingham MA (selected by Katherine French, Museum Director).
2008-2010
Electric Wanting at the Apollinaire Theatre Art Gallery, Chelsea MA (to coincide with an award-winning play by Ginna Gionfriddo);
Juried Selections Show Danforth Art Museum, Framingham MA (selected by Katherine French, Museum Director);
4 Artists Sacramento St. Gallery, Maud Morgan Art Center, Cambridge MA;
Historical Interpretation Peabody Historical Society, Peabody MA;
SEE-Scapes Experimental Art Gallery, Artists’ Row, Salem MA;
3 by 3 Gallery@ Spencer Lofts, Chelsea MA;
Juried Show Boston City Hall;
Movement, Color, and Light, Agni Gallery in East Village, NYC;
3 shows @ Wingspread Gallery in Northeast Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine in 2007, 2008, 2009;
and frequent group shows at Galatea Fine Art , Boston MA (of which I was a founding member), in 2009-2020.
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CURATORIAL PROJECTS / WRITING ON ART:
April 2020: Organized/produced/co-wrote a 50p. CATALOG of my 2-person exhibition at Galatea Fine Art, Boston --
"The Color of Seasons: Nature and Abstraction in the Paintings of Carolyn Newberger and Philip Gerstein".
Available for purchase from this LULU.com link.
The Essay for the catalog, "Parallel Paths That Intersect", by writer/poet Brian George,
has been also published with my introduction and images in --
Scene4, online International Journal of Art & Culture., Sept + Oct 2020.
April 2019: Curated a 3-person photography show at Galatea Fine Art:
"What We Have Wrought: Photographs of Mags Harries, Neal Rantoul, Eleanor Steinadler"
-- recommended/reproduced - best photo show picks by Boston's online photography magazine,
https://whatwillyouremember.com/best-photo-picks-april-2019/
For extensive Curatorial Statement (with images) - click here.
Dec-Jan 2018-2019: Curated/organized/exhibited in an outstanding & critically acclaimed show,
Sacred Asymmetry - Abstraction Boston/New York at HallSpace, Boston MA.
Exhibiting Artists: Francine Tint, Jo Ann Rothschild, Susan Roth, Marjorie Minkin, Sarah Hinckley, Philip Gerstein.
Featured/recommended in The Boston Globe Dec.23, 2018. For exhibition views click here. For exhibition checklist click here.
For videos of accompanying musical performances, see:
1) New Language Collaborative (trio); 2) Black Sheep Contemporary Ensemble (with dancers).
May-June 2011: Curated/exhibited at the Hutson Gallery, Provincetown, MA, in Reaching for the Sky: 4 Artists Working with Color .
My accompanying Color Essay, on the history of color in Modernism, and the artists in this exhibition published in The Provincetown Magazine of May 19, 2011, p.28-31, as "Art of Color" (for this condensed version click here).
This Essay has also won a competition, as one of two essays published, in Spring 2015, in the following:
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. <www.manifestgallery.org>
POSITIVE UNIQUE NON-SERIALITY: ARTIST’S STATEMENT
About my work:
To keep each work fresh and inherently experimental, I utilize several distinct modes of abstraction. Each of my paintings is on its own color schema, and uses a variety of textural materials, such as glass beads & crystal mediums, together with oil stick, acrylic, lacquer, etc.
My paintings are each genuinely unique -- rather than following the familiar pattern of offering series of similar works which differ mostly in a few details. As John Yau recently put it, praising a painter in one of his legendary Hyperallergic blog reviews: "His method alludes to a deep sense of inquiry, enhanced by his resistance to a signature style." My paintings may still be grouped into several bodies of work, which relate to each other in color, surface and deeper vibration -- like fully conceived musical compositions, like emotive and impactful poetry read out loud.
My work's antecedents range from Kandinsky to Ancient Chinese landscape paintings, while my contemporary spiritual family encompasses American Color Field painting and many practitioners of today's best experimental abstraction. My work is intended to provide one-of-a-kind, deeper experience that incorporates the element of time and rewards further with each repeated viewing.