Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery in Hudson, NY was initially started as a “pandemic pop-up,” a supplement to their Upper West Side location during difficult times. The upstate space opened on July 3, 2020 with the exhibition Summer Selects. Their initial intention was to remain Upstate for about six months and then return to their home base in NYC. Needless to say, the “pop-up” has morphed into a permanent location.
The first two years of course were spent wearing masks and social distancing. During that time the gallery was diligent in keeping guests safe while still managing to welcome the local community and beyond. Since its opening, SEFA Hudson has been pleased to host 22 exhibitions which have featured both the Gallery’s represented artists and new artists local to the Hudson Valley. Engaging with the visitors and the creators in their area has been a great pleasure. As a Gallery on the main street of downtown Hudson, they strive to support all of the audiences and artists around us.
Their current exhibition is entitled Bountiful and features the work of Eunju Kang and Fumiko Toda. It is ongoing through September 3rd, 2023.
Eunju Kang recently debuted as a solo artist with SEFA at their NYC venue in Fall 2022. In her Hudson show, Kang’s practice will be represented by monoprints and large watercolor paintings on paper—reflecting the artist’s unique minimalistic expression of the still life genre. In terms of subject and imagery, Kang favors working from observation—whether painting a vase of flowers, the view from her studio window or, most recently, still lifes composed of single flowers, fruits and vegetables. She states: “I appreciate all these things I find in nature—be they in full bloom or decaying. I don’t judge what I see, but want to give each object the attention it is due. I find that my intense focus on a tiny flower or stem helps me to control and organize my world—it is a glimpse into honesty.”
FUMIKO TODA, BUTTERFLY AWAY (YELLOW #2) (2022), ETCHING AND HAND COLORING , 16 X 20 INCHES; 31.5 X 25.5 INCHES
Fumiko Toda has been working with SEFA since her first exhibition in 2010. Her paintings and prints have an obsessive quality of intricate details. Viewers witness a repetition of forms and patterns rendered in vibrant color. She often includes insects—notably ants and butterflies—and other small creatures in her compositions, celebrating the natural world. To the artist, these beings have a biographical significance. Toda found observing wildlife to be a calming reprieve during her troubled childhood. The artist grew up in a rural community outside of Kyoto, Japan. She studied at the Sugii Art Institution in Mie and graduated from Kyoto University of Art and Design in 2000. In 2001, Toda moved to New York City, where she studied painting, figurative drawing, and printmaking at the National Academy of Fine Art. She states: “my paintings are representative of the world I would like to see around me. I am inspired by nature and everyday life that I find intriguing. My artworks usually have many layers of colors, imaginaries and thoughts, but ultimately my love of color makes my painting. I look for surprise, joy, freedom in my life through art-making.”
EUNJU KANG, HEART 1 (2023), MONOTYPE AND WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, 30 X 22 INCHES; 33 X 26 INCHES
