Garvey|Simon and McKenzie Fine Art are pleased to present Sarah Brenneman & Gary Petersen at Artisan Lofts, a 2-person exhibition exploring contrasting use of color and form in contemporary abstract painting.

Sarah Brenneman begins her work with a brush mark or a painted shape on the canvas and then performs a series of reactions in gestural moves, allowing forms to surface organically. She is aiming to engage the viewer through the universal language of abstraction as the visual representation of everyday experiences.

In contrast, Gary Petersen jam-packs his geometric abstractions with brightly colored stacked shapes that are influenced by a diverse range of sources, including graphic design, cartoons, and architecture. His playful explorations result in an array of shapes, lines, and colors that create a precarious tension. Together, their individual approaches create a dynamic dialogue that celebrates their distinctive artistic viewpoints.

Sarah Brenneman (b.1975, Middletown, OH) lives and works in West Orange, New Jersey. She received her degrees in painting from Columbus College of Art (BFA) and Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA). She has had several solo shows including with Gold Scopophilia (Montclair, NJ) in 2020 and with Jeff Bailey Gallery (New York, NY) in 2004, 2006 and 2011. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally most recently with La Grange Gallery, (Reims, France) in 2022.

She has been awarded residencies with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Millay Colony of the Arts, Chashama, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Liquitex-Just Imagine Residency and VCCA, Moulin à Nef, Auvillar France. Brenneman’s paintings are included in many private and corporate collections including The Aspen Contemporary Art Collection, Citigroup, Cleveland Clinic, Sprint and The Progressive Corporation.

Gary Petersen (b.1956, Staten Island, NY) received his B.S. degree from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.F.A. from The School of Visual Arts. He has exhibited widely in New York City and throughout the United States and Europe since the early 1990s. Petersen's work has been reviewed in many publications including Hyperallergic, Artnews, Art in America, and The New York Times.

His paintings and drawings are in numerous private, corporate, and public collections including The Dallas Museum of Art, New York’s Jewish Museum, the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, NJ, and the US Department of State. Awards received include The Bogliasco Foundation Residency Fellowship, The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Grant-Award, The MacDowell Colony Fellowship, The American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Award, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Painting Fellowship, the Sharpe-Walentas Space Program, and the Edward F. Albee Fellowship. Petersen currently has a studio in Brooklyn and resides in Hoboken, New Jersey.