BETTE BLANK
"Sex, Shoes and Rock 'n' Roll"

December 8, 2009 - January 30, 2010

...........Adam Baumgold Gallery presents an exhibition of recent paintings by Bette Blank, "Sex, Shoes & Rock 'n' Roll," from December 8, 2009 through January 30, 2010. The exhibition features Blank's detailed, humorous paintings of the "everyday" - Queen Elizabeth and Condoleezza Rice shopping for shoes in "Shoe Salon I," 2006. In the painting, "Shoe Salon II," the shoes become gigantic in scale and take on a life of their own. Laundromats, dry cleaners, dining rooms, striped pajamas, Madonna's Bustier and a romantic movie kiss are fodder for Blank's imagination, and painted in her densely colored and patterned style.

...........Blank considers her work a form of "cultural biography," looking for a sense of the absurd in what she paints. She frequently uses words in a painting both as a visual effect and as an opportunity to express additional meaning. In "Popcorn Trick" (Movie Kiss), 2009, famous movie catch phrases are placed above the lit screen to further enliven the artifice of drama on the screen. In "Madonna's Bustier," 2009, the lyrics of Madonna's song in the background seamlessly interweave with her signature corset.

...........Bette Blank has a non traditional background. Although schooled in painting, sculpture and printmaking, she has a Ph.D. in Engineering and taught until 2000, when she gave up her "day job" to paint full time.

...........Bette Blank's work is in the permanent collection of the Jewish Museum in New York, and the Hunterdon Museum in NJ, as well as in many private collections. She was featured on the TV program, "NJN State of the Arts," in 2007. Blank's work was recently included in exhibitions in the Morris Museum and the Noyes Museum in New Jersey, and she will have a solo exhibition at the Hunterdon Museum, "Icons, Idols and True Confessions" in March, 2010. She received a NJ Print and Paper Fellowship at the Brodsky Center, to produce an edition of prints which will be in the permanent collection of all the New Jersey Museums. Blank has also exhibited at Gallery Schlesinger in New York and has been included in several group exhibitions at Adam Baumgold Gallery.

...........The gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11:00-5:30 P.M. The gallery will be closed from December 24, 2009 - January 4, 2010. For additional information, please contact Adam Baumgold at (212)861-7338 or (212)861-7340...........