Curated by Helen Beckman

Anne Chu, Beth Edwards, Judith Linhares, Margo Margolis, Alison McGoran, Jennifer Moses, Oona Ratcliffe, Elizabeth Terhune

January 15 - March 8, 2020

“I use my friends . . . as gig-lamps:* there's another field I see; by your light. Over there's a hill. I widen my landscape.” – Virginia Woolf (diary)

Marisa Newman Projects is pleased to present a show of works of 8 artists selected by the painter Helen Beckman. The artists gathered for this exhibition are a group of women who, over decades, have had a significant impact on her life as an artist. The ongoing conversations generated by these friends - ranging from the esoteric to the practical - have resulted in an enduring legacy of shared experience.

Beckman: “It’s a pleasure for me to visit the sense of history and support I’ve felt among these people, all smart, talented and funny. We share an understanding of the challenges of the tricky and mysterious process of creating something that goes beyond words. We often do this in solitude, but we stand on the shoulders of the sense of community generated by discussions of our visions and what we love. These people have taught me to think and paint differently. I wanted to see their work presented together to generate its own visual conversation.”

The title “Cry of the Dinosaur’s Sister” is meant to evoke thoughts both specific and global, and to emphasize the delight of absurdity.

*The lamps on either side of a gig carriage; a headlamp.

• About the artists

Anne Chu was born in New York City, and worked and lived in New York most of her life. She received her MFA from Columbia University. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at 303 Gallery in NYC, Donald Young Gallery in Chicago, and Victoria Miro in London. She has been the recipient of many awards and honors. [Anne passed away in 2016.] Anne Chu is a sculptor and painter whose diverse materials delve both into history and into intricate, often animal-populated worlds of her own creation. This sensitive watercolor from her Chinese figures period is an ode to what is both magnificent and personal.

Beth Edwards was born in Alabama, received her BFA from Tyler School of Art and her MFA from Indiana University. She is represented by the David Lusk Gallery in Memphis and the Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee. Her work is in numerous public and private collections. She is currently a Professor at the University of Memphis. In two paintings from her Clover series, Beth Edwards paints a subject that is intimate and tapestry-like. The space feels literally “down to earth.” Its calmness is engaging and meditative.

Judith Linhares was born in Pasadena, lived, worked and exhibited in Northern California for many years, and has been based in New York since 1980. Her work has been broadly exhibited and collected. She is represented in New York by PPOW Gallery and in San Francisco by Anglim Gilbert Gallery. Judith Linhares is a painter of wonderful worlds of evocative narratives. The two charming ladies in this work seem to be both liberated and exiled.

Margo Margolis was raised in New Hampshire and educated at Skidmore College and Indiana University. She works and lives in Manhattan. She has exhibited extensively and her work is in many public and private collections. She is currently represented by Beth Urdang Gallery in Boston. She was a Professor at Tyler School of Art from 1972 to 2016. Margo Margolis’ paintings both whisper and shout. This small painting feels like a roman à clef - there are clues everywhere, and a sense of something dynamic unfolding.

Alison McGoran was born in Philadelphia. She received a BFA from Tyler School of Art, and an MFA from Louisiana State University. She lives and works in Brooklyn. Alison McGoran’s work is pensive and articulate. In her painting here, a quiet storm of expert marks creates an engaging, suggestive space.

Jennifer Moses lives and paints in Boston. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art, and MFA in painting at Indiana University. She has been included in exhibitions across the country and is currently represented by the Kingston Gallery in Boston. She has been the recipient of many grants and awards. Moses is a Professor of Art at the University of New Hampshire. In her recent flashe and ink series, Jennifer Moses constructs dream-like animated characters that are on the move. In this piece she contrasts the ephemeral and the clunky to reference a figure that seems to be in the act of collecting itself.

Oona Ratcliffe was born in Bolinas California and moved to New York in 1999. She received an MFA from Hunter College in 2003 and currently works and paints in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Ratcliffe’s work has been exhibited nationally and is held in collections world-wide. Oona Ratcliffe’s oozy, brainy compositions traffic in the psychedelic. This painting seems to both explain and mystify with its elegant convulsions.

Elizabeth Terhune was raised in Connecticut, received a BA from Oberlin College and her MFA from Hunter College. She was represented by the former Standpipe Gallery in New York and has shown throughout the United States. Her work is in private collections both in the United States and in Europe. She lives and works in Manhattan. Elizabeth Terhune paints with a direct and dynamic hand and heart. Her painting here conjures a thought expressed by Georgia O’Keeffe -- “Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time.”