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Valerie
Mendelson March 6 - March 27, 2002
I first saw Valerie Mendelson’s work in 1997, reproduced in a catalogue that accompanied her exhibition at the Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond, a few years earlier. No reproduction, as I would learn upon seeing the works in person for the first time, could compare with the paintings in the flesh. Her adept realism, her sensibility towards color, and the serene tranquility of her spaces and still-life works immediately struck me. Her paintings of specific objects, both large and small, seem to emanate a vibrancy uncommon to still-life work. When I was offered the opportunity to curate an exhibition for The Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery for Women’s History Month 2002, I knew I wanted to focus on Mendelson’s impressive and, in some cases, deeply personal and emotional works. In addition to being an accomplished painter, Mendelson is also an art historian. This duality of professional careers, artist and art historian, which are often at odds with each other, is not often encountered. Yet the two areas have worked for her in tandem. For Mendelson the Art Historian, the role of archivist (of objects in her personal space) and recorder of images (here her own), has greatly facilitated her role as Mendelson the Artist. Similarly, her attention to details and skills at observation have made her a conscientious and diligent art historian. I once asked her which profession — artist or art historian — she would choose over the other; she said she was both an artist and an art historian equally, and in fact she is skillful and passionate about both. For more than twenty years, Mendelson has exhibited her work in galleries throughout the country in addition to teaching art history for various branches of the City University of New York. We should take a moment to reflect on how difficult it was for women artists of the past to establish professional careers. For most of western history, women were prevented from obtaining an education in the arts, not to mention from obtaining many basic rights. Although the situation for women artists today is far from perfect, there have been many advances towards acceptance in the 20th and 21st centuries, which allow us to study and enjoy their works in more public forums than ever before. Kingsborough’s current exhibition celebrates these advances in women’s history and we are privileged to have Mendelson’s paintings on view for this exhibition. Caterina
Y. Pierre, M.Phil.
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