Paintings, Mixed media on canvas, Sketches
“She has surpassed Mark Rothko,” has often been said about Helene Weiss’ paintings when critics and collectors see how she uses color, form, layering, composition and juxtaposition in her work.
Weiss redefines how the canvas can be used to communicate with the viewer. Many of her paintings pull in and reflect natural light, changing the tone and message of each painting with each turn and position of its viewer. Featured in the critically acclaimed new book, Miami Contemporary Artists, Weiss’ work can change the entire mood and atmosphere of a room unlike any other artist one has experienced.
Of her own work, Weiss writes: “My paintings are about color, line and form. The most important aspect is to have the viewer connect with the canvas and the emotion they see there.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, at 68-years-old, Helene Weiss has been studying art and painting for many years. She attended Boston University’s School of Fine & Applied Arts and received scholarships to study and work on her craft at the Brooklyn Museum of Art as well as the well-known Provincetown Workshop, an incubator for talented artists from around the world. While in Provincetown, famous artists Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler, who owned a home there, became her mentors.
Weiss’ work has been exhibited in galleries across the country and at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters. A student of art, Weiss is knowledgeable about art history, painters and periods and her love and respect for the Masters is evident when one speaks to her. Her art, however, is quite obviously her own.
“I have painted for many years,” she says, “and eventually found my inner voice.” Her current series of paintings, titled as a whole, The Sublime Essence of Being, are abstract expressions and still-lives interpreted in a way that distinctly realizes color, shape and texture, unfolding these elements on the canvas as if each painting were a great piece of music.
“Painting for me is blissful and challenging,” Weiss notes. “I delight in expressing an image that takes you to another place.” Weiss believes she is in Miami at this time for a very special reason, “Miami has grown so much in how it is perceived in the art world. I am grateful to be a part of the international cognizance of the talent that is inherent here. One does not have to leave Florida anymore to find world-class artists.”
An extensive survey of Helene Weiss’ work will be exhibited at the Diaspora Vibe Gallery in the Design District, January 31-February 9, 2008. The solo show titled, Now and Then, will feature Weiss’ older as well as most recent work.
by: Andrea Thompson - Thompson Communications
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