AN EVENING WITH THE ARTIST JAN BURKE

Little Falls, NY — The Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts (MVCA) is proud to present The Nature of Pear, a bold and thought-provoking new exhibition by Richfield, NY artist Jan Burke, on display in the Alan and Linda Vincent Gallery. The Nature of Pear is a visually compelling body of work that examines the parallels between women and the visual metaphor of the aging pear — a metaphor, as Burke notes, that was not chosen, but imposed. Working in a contemporary Ashcan tradition, Burke is driven by a lifelong interest in discovering and revealing the beauty hidden in everyday life and the human condition, striving always to distill the mundane into what she describes as a pure and divine concentration of humanity. Her work spans multiple mediums including oil and acrylic paint, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing — each bringing its own texture and weight to this richly layered exploration of womanhood, identity, and the visual shortcuts society places on women. Jan Burke holds an AAS in Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, an AAS in Advertising Design and Production, a Certificate in Photography from MVCC in Utica, NY, and a BA in Fine Art and Communication Design from Empire State College in Saratoga, NY. She has studied under Charles Emerson, William Elston, Dionne Haroutunian, and James McDermid, with a focus on painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Burke is also the owner and director of Neptune Studio in Utica, NY, and is currently reimagining the space as an art retreat on her family farm in Richfield, NY. The public is warmly invited to join us for the Opening Reception on Friday, August 7th beginning at 5:00 PM at the Alan and Linda Vincent Gallery. Admission is free and open to all.