Monday, January 7, 2008

Daniel Gordon Art Exhibit


After three years in the making, two new sculptures by Berkeley Heights artist Daniel Gordon are on display in the lobby at BHPL this month.

The print’s compositions feature naturalistic scenes interwoven with the words, “understanding, respect, connection, love and peace.” Mr. Gordon cuts and carves the original artwork onto wooden blocks, which are rolled with ink and pressed onto thick papers. The prints are done in oil based ink and the background effects are accomplished with dyes.

The prints are then stretched and applied to wooden structures using copper nails. Keep an eye out for the word that one of the structures spells - many of us missed it the first time.

Mr. Gordon has been working as a craftsman and artist for 20 years, specializing in the art of marquetry. In that past five years Gordon has focused more on creating works using printmaking and painted techniques, as well as sculpture that employs marquetry.

From 1989-1995 Mr. Gordon worked as an independent furniture maker with shops in East Orange, NJ and Chatham, NJ before joining Pollaro Custom Furniture in 1995. In 2003 Gordon left the high end woodworking business to teach woodworking full time at Mahwah High School in Mahwah, NJ.

Gordon has exhibited as a professional artisan in galleries in New Jersey and New York. While at Pollaro Custom Furniture, Union, NJ, Gordon did complicated marquetry and wood inlay projects for clients including Jim Henson Productions and Steinway and Sons.

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