![\"Allentown](\"https:\/\/static.lehigh-v.lehigh-valley.production.k1.m1.brightspot.cloud\/dims4\/default\/6f9f3e2\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4284x2410+0+0\/resize\/880x495!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flehigh-valley-brightspot.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2F18%2Fb2%2Fde86252746f0a8c98bfbabbaef14%2Fimg-8933.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Move too quickly and the work may slip past you.<\/p>\n
Two contemporary exhibitions by women artists at Allentown Art Museum speak softly to one another through color, material and an invitation to slow down.<\/p>\n
On view are solo exhibitions “The Clouds are Luminous” by Ellen Berkenblit and “Aftertouch” by Amanda Valdez, curated by Elaine Mehalakes and Claire McRee, respectively. <\/p>\n
Together, the exhibitions offer visitors a study in contrast \u2014 figuration and abstraction \u2014 while underscoring the use of intuition. <\/p>\n
The exhibitions will be on display through May 17.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Micaela Hood<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n
Ellen Berkenblit’s large-scale paintings are on display at the Allentown Art Museum through May 17. <\/p>\n
First solo show<\/p>\n
Berkenblit\u2019s “Clouds” inside the Scheller and Fowler galleries marks the artist\u2019s first solo museum show, a long-awaited milestone for a painter whose work has been widely discussed by critics for decades, Mehalakes said. <\/p>\n
Her paintings and drawings feature recurring female figures rendered through an intuitive, physical process that begins not with sketches but with a single line.<\/p>\n
“These figures aren\u2019t meant to be narrative or symbolic.”<\/p>\n
Elaine Mehalakes, on artist Ellen Berkenblit<\/p>\n
\u201cThese figures aren\u2019t meant to be narrative or symbolic,\u201d Mehalakes said. \u201cShe thinks of them more as elements of a visual language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last summer, Mehalakes visited Berkenblit\u2019s studio in New York’s Hudson Valley, where, she said, she gained a deeper understanding of the artist\u2019s intuitive process and technical mastery. <\/p>\n
Seeing the work in its place of origin underscored Berkenblit\u2019s skill as a painter and her deep knowledge of materials, from paint behavior to color nuance, Mehalakes said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really fascinating to talk with her about color and material,\u201d she said. She said the studio visit helped shape how the exhibition ultimately came together. <\/p>\n
Displayed across two gallery spaces, the exhibition pairs several thought-provoking large-scale paintings of pointy-nosed and melancholy feminine subjects with drawings and Kozo collages.<\/p>\n
A portion of those black-and-white drawings was created for “Banana Meringue,” a zine commissioned in 2024 by Dan Nadel, curator of the Whitney Museum in New York City. <\/p>\n
According to Mehalakes, they reveal Berkenblit\u2019s interest in comics and sequential imagery, and let viewers see subtle notes in expression and form, from piece to piece. <\/p>\n
![\"Ellen](\"https:\/\/static.lehigh-v.lehigh-valley.production.k1.m1.brightspot.cloud\/dims4\/default\/0c12cad\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5712x4284+0+0\/resize\/880x660!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flehigh-valley-brightspot.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2F2d%2F40%2Fdbe6844244e8927746cdc7e77c72%2Fimg-8938.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Micaela Hood <\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n
Black-and-white drawings by artist Ellen Berkenblit were created for “Banana Meringue,” a zine commissioned in 2024 by Dan Nadel, curator of the Whitney Museum in New York City. <\/p>\n
Also notable: an immersive peacock-feather wallpaper \u2014 designed by Berkenblit specifically for the solo show, and based on a modified Victorian image. <\/p>\n
“It creates an environment that pushes the works forward visually while pulling viewers into Berkenblit\u2019s world,” Mehalakes said. <\/p>\n
Animals such as peacocks and tigers appear throughout Berkenblit’s work \u2014 not as symbols, but as companions or \u201cfamiliars,\u201d Mehalakes said, emerging from the artist\u2019s subconscious and lived observation.<\/p>\n
Color, hand stitching and textiles<\/p>\n
Just steps away in the Rodale Gallery, Amanda Valdez\u2019s exhibition offers a very different \u2014 yet complementary \u2014 experience. <\/p>\n
Valdez, who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, brings together painting and textiles in works that blur boundaries between media. <\/p>\n
According to curator Claire McRee, Valdez’s practice centers on hand stitching, dyeing and layered fabric surfaces that reference quilt-making traditions and the global history of textile production.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s really interested in the labor of handwork and what that brings to a piece,\u201d McRee said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat intangible presence of time, care and touch.\u201d<\/p>\n
“You have one experience from afar, and then another as you approach and notice the details.”<\/p>\n
Curator Claire McRee on artist Amanda Valdez<\/p>\n
Instead, she draws most directly from quilt patterns, which she sees as part of her own cultural lineage and artistic identity.<\/p>\n
Valdez also researches textile histories across cultures and completed a weaving residency with the New Roots Foundation in Antigua, Guatemala, in 2018, where she created her large-scale tapestry “Full Tanit.” <\/p>\n
The residency marked a key period in the development of Valdez’s textile practice, which remains attentive to cultural context and mindful of avoiding appropriation.<\/p>\n
As museum-goers will notice, color plays a central role in Valdez\u2019s work, with soft pastels, warm tones and hand-dyed blues creating a sense of calm that deepens upon closer inspection. <\/p>\n
From a distance, the works feel meditative; up close, stitching, texture and subtle tonal shifts reveal themselves, McRee said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a kind of mindfulness to her work,\u201d McRee said. \u201cYou have one experience from afar, and then another as you approach and notice the details.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez\u2019s shapes are abstract and organic, drawn intuitively and described by the artist as \u201cunearthed\u201d from within the body. <\/p>\n
Meet the artists<\/p>\n
Both Mehalakes and McRee said gallery placement was carefully considered for both exhibitions, with sight lines guiding visitors through the space and toward monumental works featured in the rooms. <\/p>\n
![\"Amanda](\"https:\/\/static.lehigh-v.lehigh-valley.production.k1.m1.brightspot.cloud\/dims4\/default\/874de26\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2581x1452+0+0\/resize\/880x495!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flehigh-valley-brightspot.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F71%2Fa9007423408c9dc104d8e2b1254b%2Funknown-1-16x9.png\")
<\/p>\n
Micaela Hood<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n
Amanda Valdez’s textile pieces, as seen at the Allentown Art Museum, will be on display through May. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe think a lot about how your eye moves,\u201d McRee said. \u201cYou\u2019re engaging with what\u2019s in front of you, but you\u2019re also being pulled toward something ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Berkenblit\u2019s figurative paintings and Valdez\u2019s abstract textiles differ visually, the curators intentionally positioned the exhibitions to resonate with one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth artists think very deeply about color,\u201d McRee said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also a nice contrast between Ellen\u2019s representational figures and Amanda\u2019s abstraction, but the scale and color create a dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Together, the exhibitions reflect the museum\u2019s commitment to offering visitors something new with each visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often want clear answers,\u201d Mehalakes said. \u201cBut both of these shows ask viewers to sit with ambiguity, to slow down, and to let meaning unfold over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berkenblit will lead a lecture on her process and bold use of color at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 7. <\/p>\n
She will be joined by artisans from Vasari Paint, a company based in Easton, and Berkenblit’s preferred art supplier, to discuss the craft of creating oil paints and their use in contemporary art. <\/p>\n
Amanda Valdez’s artist talk will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 25. <\/p>\n
She will discuss her artistic influences and how textile history influences her work.<\/p>\n