Local artist, Sangita Phadke will be giving an artist talk during a free online opening reception on February 6th from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
The free event, which will be held on Zoom, offers the opportunity to gain insight into Phadke's artistic process and ask questions as she walks participants through her virtual exhibit online at www.monmouthmuseum.org/nilsongallery.
Erika Hellstrom, Acting Executive Director of the Monmouth Museum shares, "The Museum is excited to offer an opportunity to artists with virtual galleries. Sangita's art is stunning. Her ability to bring such amazing detail and vibrant color to her artwork is amazing and we look forward to her artist talk on the 6th!"
Sangita Phadke is a self-taught artist from Colts Neck, NJ. Her award winning paintings have hung in some of the most prestigious museums, galleries, and private collections across America and abroad, including The United States Embassy, the San Diego Art Institute, the Butler Institute of American Art, The National Arts Center in Taipei Taiwan, and The Art Gallery of Hamilton Ontario.
Phadke grew up in the Chicago suburbs and graduated with a degree in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She soon realized that her true calling was to tell stories through art. In a short period of time, she became one of the youngest artists to receive the designation of “Master Pastel Painter.” In 2009, Southwest Art Magazine named her as one of the top 21 artists world-wide under the age of 31. Her work has been featured in Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, The Artist’s Magazine, Pratique des Arts (France), The Pastel Journal, Les Maitres du Pastel (France), International Artist Magazine, and Southwest Art Magazine.
In her pastel paintings, her subjects sit in the dark illuminated by a strong spotlight, as if they are on stage. She focuses on a piece of fruit, a flower, or a figure. Phadke arranges her compositions to create dramatic contrasts between the subject and the dark backgrounds. She also adds curiosities, a scratch in the surface of a fruit or an unexpected color in a strand of fabric that can only be seen at close distances. “This is the first show that combines my still life and figure paintings. I wanted to bring together the different genres because in my art they share such a significant commonality. Above all, they have life and a story that I want to share.”
When asked about the virtual gallery with the Monmouth Museum, Phadke shared, "While we all miss the direct experiences of the visual arts, we can explore remote artistic experiences through the virtual exhibitions at Monmouth Museum. The online exhibitions offer viewers the ability to walk through an exhibition and also zoom in to see high resolution images. The quality of the images is outstanding. Viewers can still observe some of the more subtle details in my paintings. I am honored to share my artwork on this platform."
Register for this free event by emailing art@monmouthmuseum.org. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the artist talk.