"REAL. W3ird." Artist Spotlight - Florin Ion Firimita

Join us for the opening of "REAL. W3ird." on August 12 at Southington Community Cultural Arts!  - More Info HERE

"The Offering"

 Florin Ion Firimita

I am a visual artist, educator, and writer. My interest in image making could be traced back to my father’s amateur photo lab in Bucharest, Romania, where I was entrusted with mixing chemicals, developing film, and printing black-and-white images at the age of six.  A passion for drawing and painting started around the same time under the influence of my mother.

While holding jobs such as welder, grave digger, janitor, window decorator, and security guard -  drawing, painting, and photography kept me sane. In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Romanian Revolution, I escaped to the United States.  

My photography, mixed media work and my writing have been featured in hundreds of galleries and art magazines in Argentina, Portugal, France, England, and the U.S. In April 2017, a selection of my photographs was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

“The Art of Leaving,” a documentary film about my art, was released in 2003. Based on almost 3,000 pages of journal entries, the film took three years to make and was the official selection of seven international film festival such as Santa Fe, Durango, New York, Chicago, and also Montreal’s 23^rd Festival International du Film Sur L’Art. “Reliquary,” a novel based on my experiences, is scheduled for publication.

Between 1990 and 2017 I participated in over 300 exhibits. My artwork could be found in many collections in Europe, Australia, and the United States. In 2010, 2012 and 2013, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Scholastic awarded me three national gold medals for art teaching and mentoring.

Today I divide my time between rural Connecticut and Europe. My photographic work is represented by the GADCOLLECTION Gallery in Paris, France.

More on the web: www.florinfirimita.com

"Presence"

One Year Later!

Paris In Plantsville may have closed it's doors as a physical gallery and art space, but the community created there lives on!

Several of the regular artists and resident artists fro PiP are coming together this April for a group show at The Firehouse Gallery in Milford Connecticut!

Here's the lowdown on this first reunion of many to come!  We hope to see you there for the opening!

Invitational Group Exhibit                                                   

April 13, 2017 – May 5, 2017

Opening Reception Thursday, April 13, 2017, 6- 8 pm

“Springtime Showcase” Invitational Group Show

Firehouse Gallery

81 Naugatuck Avenue

Milford, CT 06460

Phone: (203) 306-0016, email:  fhgallery@optonline.net

The Milford Arts Council’s Firehouse Gallery is proud to present, its “Springtime Showcase”, an Invitational Group Show of artists from around Connecticut.  The show highlights a diverse group of artists working in multiple styles and media. The exhibition runs April 13-May 5, 2017, Reception Thursday, April 13, 2017 6-8 pm at the Firehouse Gallery, 81 Naugatuck Ave Milford Ct,  Tel: 203-306-0016. For more information, go to milfordarts.org/firehouse-art-gallery/exhibits/ or call 203-878-6647, Tuesday-Friday, 10-5 pm.

Exhibiting Artists are:

Paul Baylock is the current President of the Art League of New Britain.  Baylock is a retired art educator who had taught for over 38 years in the New Britain school system. He now focuses his time creating his own work.   At the moment, he primarily works in acrylics exploring the theme of old advertisements from popular science magazines depicted in an abstract manor.  His work has appeared at the Underground Gallery in Collinsville CT, the Good News Café in Woodbury Ct, and the New Britain Museum of American Art.

Jon Bristol is an award winning filmmaker, puppeteer, and artist. He is the founder and creative director of Elmwood Productions, a small but mighty film studio in Central Ct. Jon’s most recent feature film "Head" has won a number of awards around the world at various, independent film festivals.

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Clinton Deckert is an award winning contemporary artist and art advocate, having served as Curator and Juror in many regional art events. His artwork was represented internationally when selected for inclusion into the Societé Nationale Des Beaux Arts international exhibition at Carrousel Du Louvre, Paris, France. Deckert was also a featured guest on WNPR radio’s “rock star panel of artists and art critics” for the “Ebb and Flow of Dada”.   He served fourteen years on the board of directors for Artworks Gallery Hartford including a two terms as President.  In New York he exhibited in Chelsea, SoHo, Williamsburg and Woodstock. He has several artworks represented in the acclaimed Jack & Susan Warner Collection of American Art in Alabama. Deckert recently had a solo exhibition in the New Britain Museum of American Art’s New/Now program and had work unanimously selected into the museum’s permanent collection by the Collections Committee and Board of Trustees.

Jacquelyn Etling is an award winning photographer and art historian who works primarily in the infrared photographic medium. She is a member of the Pleiades gallery in New York City.  Her work has been shown in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions around the United States. Some of the venues include Wade Wilson Gallery in Huston TX, The Queens Museum NY, The Slater Art Museum Norwich Ct, and the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT.

Florin Ion Firimita is a visual artist, educator, and writer who immigrated from his native Romania to the United States to pursue his artistic career. This award-winning artist is versatile in a variety of mediums from painting to mixed media and from writing to photography. From 1991-2016 he has participated in over 300 solo and group art shows in both Europe and America. His latest photographic exhibition the Bookstore Project has been touring the U. S. and  Europe.  It is currently on view at MAC Gallery in Middletown, Ct and at Galerie Gadcollection  in Paris, France  .

Sean Michanczyk is a graduate of Hartford School of Art. His award winning oil paintings pay homage to the old masters while keeping a contemporary trompe l’oeil edge. His tightly rendered work and keen sense of balance create harmonious story telling through symbolism. He was the owner and founder of Paris in Plantsville Gallery in Plantsville CT a cornerstone of the Southington arts scene for over eight years until its closing in 2016.

Andre Rochester is an artist and curator from Hartford Ct. He works in several diverse media, which include acrylic, charcoal, and pastel.  He is the founding member, and current chairperson of Pro+Cre8 Artist Group in Hartford Ct, and is also, a co-founder of the Hartford Artist  Co-Op, a collective of literary, performing, and visual artists from the greater Hartford area. Andre is also a 2015 100 Men of Color honoree.

Greg Shea is an award winning photographer and craftsman. He has a wide variety of creative interests, which include drawing, painting, and sculpture. For over twenty years, Greg has worked as a Senior Museum Preparator at the Yale Center for British Art. This award winning artist’s work has appeared in a number of museum and gallery exhibitions.  Some of the venues have included the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Yale Center for British Art. He is also the current Vice President of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club and a board member, of the Art League of New Britain.

Eric Stegmaier is a graduate of the Hartford Art School. He is the Senior Conservation Assistant at the Yale Center for British Art . He has worked as an archaeological illustrator on several excavations in the Middle East. His archaeological illustration work has appeared in a number of books and article.  Eric is also a member of New York’s famed Salmagundi Club. His most recent work is inspired by his love of history, literature, and nature.

Cheryl Wilczak Psy.D. is a photographer , illustrator and clinical psychologist . She is a graduate of Pratt Art Institute in New York City and worked as a commercial illustrator for over 15 yrs. She later returned to school to earn an advanced degree in Art Therapy from New York University.  Her award winning photography has been show at a number of venues around the United States, including the Salmagundi Club in New York City, the Pleiades Gallery in Chelsea, NY, and Paris in Plantsville Gallery in Plantsville, Ct.

The Artwork of Florin Ion Firimita

The Artwork of Florin Ion Firimita

is running now through September 26!

ABOUT THE ARTIST

FLORIN ION FIRIMIŢÃ is a visual artist, teacher, filmmaker and writer traces his interest in art back to his father’s modest amateur photo lab, in Bucharest, Romania, where he was entrusted with mixing chemicals, developing film, and printing black-and-white photos, at the age of six. His interest in drawing and painting started around the same time, under the influence of his mother, an art teacher and a fashion designer.

Between 1988 and 1990, he was the manager of the painting department of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet, in Ballet, in Bucharest, Romania, and also as a costume and set painter. In 1990, he immigrated to the United States. Today he teaches, paints, exhibits, lectures, and writes art-criticism, essays and short stories.

Lately, his fiction, essays have appeared in France, Great Britain, and in the U.S. in House Beautiful, The Sun, and the Hartford Courant. The Art of Leaving a film about Florin’s art and life was released in 2003. The film was the official selection of seven international film festival such as Santa Fe, Durango, New York, Chicago, and also Montreal’s 23rd Festival International du Film Sur L’Art.His first novel, Reliquary, the result of 13 years of writing, is scheduled to be published in 2015.

His work could be found in many private and public collections in Europe, Australia, and the United States. Between 1990 and 2014 he has participated in over 300 solo and group exhibits. He divides his time between Connecticut, New York and France.

More on the web: www.florinfirimita.com &  www.ParisInPlantsville.com