Bridgehampton-Based Gallery Encourages All To “Carpe Artem” This November

An iconic phrase inspired The White Room’s latest exhibition.

“Carpe Diem has been the battle cry since 30 BC. Give or take,” Andrea McCafferty and Kat O’Neill, The White Room Co-Owners & Directors, shared. “The Roman poet Horace used the term to express the idea that one should enjoy life while one can. Imagine such insight without any of the modern advances of toilets, TV’s, anything apple, cars, bars and the internet.”

The duo continued, “So, in lieu of seize the day, and taking into account our current day plague or should we say the exhaustingly overused ‘new normal’ we thought why not apply the historic call to action to art. Seize it. Enjoy it. Wake up to it.”

The Bridgehampton-based gallery will present Carpe Artem from Thursday, November 5 through Sunday, November 29. The exhibition will feature David Bender, Steve Joester, Alicia Gitlitz and James C. Leonard. The works of Mr. Brainwash, Craig Alan, Jojo Anavim, Russell Young, and Nelson De La Nuez will also be on view as part of The White Room’s permanent collection.

Bender is based in Brooklyn. He studied at Seattle University, the Burnley School of Art, and the New York Academy of Art. Bender works in painting, sculpture and street art, which are influenced by his practice of yoga and meditation. He was recognized with the Best in Show Award from the Woodstock School of Art Regional Exhibition, the Art Times Award from the Hudson Valley Art Association Invitational and is in the permanent collection of the Brinton Museum.

Steve Joester’s Abstract Untitled, Mixed Media on Canvas. (Courtesy Photo)

Joester, a British-born Rock & Roll photographer and mixed media artist, has documented some of the greatest rock performers – such as Mick Jagger, Bob Marley, Neil Young, and Sting. His work has appeared on album sleeves, posters, exhibitions and magazines worldwide. Joester also captured Andy Warhol on film with Judas Priest’s Rob Halford backstage at the Palladium in April, 1979. His mixed media pieces utilize an unusual combination of materials. Joester was the first mixed media artist to be represented by the Morrison Hotel Gallery, and his work is highlighted in collections domestically and internationally.

Gitlitz has dabbled in a myriad of styles, including impressionism, traditional and abstract, as well as photography. “My artwork is a tribute to how awe inspiring nature can be with its endless opportunities to express emotion. The world is a blank canvas waiting to be painted and I can see all of the possibilities in my mind’s eye,” she explained.

The work of Leonard, one of California’s leading abstract expressionist painters, is often influenced by German painter Gerhard Richer. “I’m pulling paint, layering one layer at a time, which creates a sense of history in the painting. It’s like looking at a fence post that’s been repainted over a period of time. You can see the different colors and layers,” he explained about his process. His paintings can have up to thirty or forty layers. Leonard has exhibited internationally and his paintings can also be found in private and corporate art collections across the United States and Europe.

“Thomas Merton, the revered monk and poet, said, ‘Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.’ With that sentiment in mind, we chose to make all the art in this exhibit abstract because abstraction is freedom,” McCafferty and O’Neill added. “No judgement. No expectations. You see what you see. You like what you like. You, as the observer with your memories, perception, tastes and intellect, create the narrative. Carpe Artem.”

The White Room is located at 2415 Main Street in Bridgehampton. For more information, visit thewhiteroom.gallery.