"Lisa Goren: Polar Summers" Art Exhibit

Exhibition Summary

Athan’s European Bakery & Café

617.734.7028  | 1621 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446 | athansbakery.com| MBTA C Green Line to Washington Square Station and Bus 65 |Open everyday| runs from July 18 – September 7, 2012: “Lisa Goren: Polar Summers” a solo exhibition by Boston artist Lisa Goren of inspirational watercolor paintings of the beauty of ice in Antarctica and the Arctic and explores the critical issues associated with global warming. The public opening reception is Wednesday July 25 – 7-9 pm with an Artist Talk Back at 7:30 pm.

Exhibition Press Release

For its summer art exhibition in Brookline, Athan's Bakery & Café, one of the most popular café’s in Greater Boston, is presenting a “cool” hot summer exhibition: “Lisa Goren: Polar Summers” from July 18 through September 7.  The opening reception is Wednesday, July 25 from 7-9 pm and an Artist Talk Back at 7:30 pm.  Athan’s has been exhibiting some of the best regional art at both of its locations for the past year.

The solo exhibition features the artist’s strong interest and attraction to the beauty and mystery of the polar mountains of Antarctic and the Arctic. Through her vivid paintings Lisa Goren captures for all of us the critical ice caps associated with global warming and inspires us to learn what actions may be necessary in our lives to avoid irreplaceable damage to our planet.  Many scientists have recently discovered this “inconvenient truth” and reported that the melting of the polar ice caps have already resulted in many severe weather episodes across America in 2012.  Lisa visited the Antarctic in 1997 and was inspired by its many sculptural ice landscapes that were   representational and abstract at the same time.  She also discovered that the native plants, volcanic rock, blue ice, penguins and seals created a varied and colorful panorama. 

Seeing the icy landscapes made her rethink how we perceive water and ice that have so many beautiful ever-changing manifestations.   She found that in Antarctica, dirt and snow algae could create amazing effects in what might be assumed to be a totally white landscape, with icebergs that are so dense that the only light waves, which pass through, are what she calls a "Caribbean" blue.  It was her attraction to water and its variations that encouraged her foray into the use of watercolors.  When she’s creating she feels closer to understanding her ice subjects by using water as one of her tools. Drawing and painting ice reminds her of the transitory nature of water, which includes ice that is millions of years old. 

After the birth of my son, she became a "stay-at-home mom" and she began to think about painting the ice again.  She created a series of pieces entitled, "The Antarctica Project".   She has been painting for 6 years and she has exhibited in Massachusetts, including the New Art Center in Newton, and in New Hampshire.  Individuals in Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Australia, and Iceland have collected her artworks.  Recently, Lisa has been selected to be a member of the 2013 Arctic Circle Voyage Project.