Anita Shapolsky Gallery is pleased to present Jump In And Move Around, a retrospective of Amaranth Roslyn Ehrenhalt’s prolific body of work in honor of her 92nd birthday. Amaranth Ehrenhalt was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1928 and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts on scholarship and continued her studies at the Barnes Foundation. Ehrenhalt’s adventurous nature led her to leave New York for Paris, where she met and exhibited with several expatriate artists of the abstract New York School, including Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell and Shirley Jaffe.

Sonia Delaunay became one of Ehrenhalt’s first patrons, letting the young artist purchase art supplies on her account. On the eve of her departure, Ehrenhalt met de Kooning for a drink at the legendary Cedar Tavern; the dinner they planned upon her return never happened, as she remained in Europe for 38 years, finally returning to N.Y.C. in 2007. Although she spent most of her career in Paris, Ehrenhalt is considered part of the New York School of the 1950’s. She is one of the few members of the group still active today, which was predominately an elite, white male movement. She has worked with a variety of media, producing paintings, sculpture, mosaics, ceramics, watercolors, tapestries, scarves, and prints. The titles of her paintings often refer to specific memories, which she expresses with dynamic, interactive, and bold brushstrokes.

Deeply expressive and generous in her creative process, Ehrenhalt is known for her spontaneous style, reminiscent of the automotive modes of the surrealists.Amaranth Ehrenhalt is an artist in the truest sense - one need only look around her apartment to realize that. Her colorful and dynamic paintings, manifested over decades in various mediums, adorn the walls; rolled canvases are tucked into any spot that will hold them. Her home, in a way, is a work of art itself. The seemingly extemporaneous style of her work, often expressed with vibrant and warm colors, confronts you from every angle - there’s no corner left bare. This exhibition serves as an homage to an artist who’s never stopped making work - even now, at 92, Ehrenhalt still creates.Each painting is a complete inseparable creation, her passion and ingenuity is evident in these powerful works on display.

Ehrenhalt immerses herself in the process of creating on the canvas, using color to express both strength and fragility.She has established herself as a multifaceted artist with many solo and group exhibitions in Paris, Italy, New York, and California. Ehrenhalt has taken part in multiple exhibitions at the Anita Shapolsky Gallery. She has had solo shows in Paris, New York, and Los Angeles, and has pieces in collections at the Bibliotheque National de Paris, the National Foundation of Contemporary Art in Paris, and the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C.