PALIMPSEST at Gallery 211 in Red Bank
local artists Manda Gorsegner and Robert O’Connor.
Manda Gorsegner’s studio is more like a laboratory for research and experimentation. She makes her own encaustic and some of her own oil paints. Honey, fair trade organic coffees, curbside found objects, litter from hikes and beach cleanups, bone from deceased animals, and charcoal/graphite are some of the materials she employs. The process of creating a painting can take months or years; each painting evolves and has its own history and ecology. She seeks to make the creation of her pieces more earth-friendly while trying not to compromise the integrity of her art.
Manda received a BFA in Painting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 2005 and a BS in Ecology & Evolution from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University in 2012. She is a graduate student at Drexel University studying Arts Administration for non-profit visual arts organizations. Her thesis research explores the role of art in the global climate change movement through artist and scientist interviews. Manda has exhibited across New Jersey, in Philadelphia and Brooklyn for the last 15 years. She is the Arts Education Manager at Monmouth Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Robert O’Connor came to realize that art is not a solitary experience – art is about community and communication. “Art is about being human. It’s a form of communication that is direct, non-verbal, and at its best, can be powerful and piercing – reaching deep into the viewer in a way that no other form of communication is capable.”
His work is a mix of recognizable images, gestural strokes and collaged elements, and paint, inks, canvas, paper, maybe a piece of found wood or text– things that have their own history and meaning– make up this artist’s tool box.
Robert received his bachelors and masters degrees from The Cooper Union in New York. He took art classes when possible including calligraphy, drawing, and painting, but pursued a career in engineering. Don Kunz, a former art teacher of his, continued his art education. When he was 29, he quit his engineering job and went back to school at The Art Student’s League of NY and The National Academy.
In 1998 he won the Edward G. McDowell Travel Grant from the League and explored Europe’s art scene. In 2004 Robert entered the MFA Visual Arts program at Vermont College.
Two Eleven Broad, located on the main office corridor in charming Red Bank, NJ, is an innovative, adaptive reuse of the 62-year-old First Church of Christ Scientist sanctuary. The property was converted into a LEED certified professional office building and provides space for a community art gallery.
Gallery211 is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 am – 7:00 pm. For all other information contact Manda Gorsegner; 908-489-1745, AmandaGorsegner@gmail.com, mandagorsegner.com or Robert O’Connor; 848-203-2618, rjocon@icloud.com, robertoconnorart.com.
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