October Waves by Sandra Gottlieb

The Art Center is proud to welcome artist Sandra Gottlieb’s exhibit, October Waves. Sandra Gottlieb has created a striking series of photographs of the skies and waters of the Atlantic Ocean. With a keen eye for the fleeting phenomena of clouds and light, she has created beautiful large-scale images that range from the abstract, to the painterly, to the highly dramatic. Her poetic work conveys the sense of impermanence in both nature and in human existence.

Dates of Exhibit: August 6 – October 30, 2021

Exhibit Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 9 AM – 4 PM  

Opening Reception: TBD

Artist Statement by Sandra Gottlieb:

October Waves is my sixth series of seascapes photographed at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York beginning in 1996. 

My images are conceptual interpretations of the sea during all seasons and all times of day. All series share a minimalist aesthetic, exploring the most basic elements of composition, contrasting light, texture, and form. Several series include the sand at the edge of the shore and the sky…but October Waves is about the essence of the waves only. 

Inspired by the Modernist painter Milton Avery’s personal interpretation of reality focused on the edge of the sea, I visited the seashore each day at sunset during the October 2013 hurricane season. The waves were immense and more powerful than usual. A 300mm fixed lens was used to simulate the texture, light and shapes within the water, and moving in and out with my camera to capture the crest of the wave and the hollow section, the trough between two crests; 30 different individual portraits of 30 waves.

Shooting at sunset, when the light and atmosphere are most intense, allows the light to reflect off the water, creating colors and textures within the waves which are not readily visible to the casual beachgoer; catching the moment the wave reaches its peak, and then including the waves still to come…creating a feeling of the passage of time. 

All series reflect the central theme of changing light and shifting tides, and invite viewers to connect to their own memories of the timeless quality of the experience at the edge of the sea.

Sandra Gottlieb Bio: 

Sandra Gottlieb was born in Brooklyn, NY, and from an early age was devoted to the study of ballet and the arts. She studied Fine Arts at Brooklyn College, and later photography at the International Center of Photography in New York City and interior design at the New York School of Interior Design. Continuing her dance training as well, she performed professionally with a number of ballet and modern dance companies in the city. She has noted that dance gave her both a feeling for movement, and an awareness of change from moment to moment, both of which have contributed to her photographic vision.

In the 1980s, Gottlieb’s artistic impulse brought her to acting, and she appeared in Off-Broadway plays in New York, and on daytime television. She recognizes in her theater work the importance of “yourself in the moment”, in touch with one’s inner being. Gottlieb sees this quality of being present to what is happening right now, as an important preparation for taking pictures of nature that may change in an instant.

In 1991, Gottlieb received a camera for her birthday, and found herself taking pictures that were immediately satisfying. In 1996, she began studying at the International Center Of Photography with the photographer and master printer Jerry Vezzuso, who strongly encouraged her in her work. Gottlieb began taking the first pictures of the Rockaway Beach Series, which would later be expanded into Seascapes 1996 thru 2006. She took these photographs from the third floor of a beach house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY. These first pictures were exhibited as a solo show at New Century Artists Gallery in New York in 1998.

With her work in photography, Gottlieb has discovered an affinity with a range of American abstract painters. She found in Rothko a strong sense of structure wedded to color. In Milton Avery she recognized his very personal interpretation of reality, focused on the edge of the sea. Morris Louis was a model for his veils of diaphanous color. While she was creating Seascapes 1996 Thru 2006, Gottlieb also produced other series including Floral Impressions, close-up soft focus views of flowers, Nocturne, details of the breaking surf at twilight, and Sea Grass, whose curving lines suggest abstract painterly gestures. Gottlieb has continued her conceptual view of flowers with City Tulips, 2008 and her seascapes series with Winter and Summer, 2009, Waves in Black and White, 2011, and her most recent series, October Waves, 2013.

This exhibit is sponsored by: Kent Adams, Blessing Health System, Blues Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, John & Kathy Bozdech, Casey’s General Store, EcoWater Systems of Quincy, The Knapheide Manufacturing Company, Lori Kruse, Roger D. Leach, Quincy Medical Group, Signe Oakley, Kevin & Krista Rankin, Still Waters Float Center, TNT Golf Car & Motorsports, and Winters LLP.

 Photo: October Waves No. 4 by Sandra Gottlieb, photograph