Introduction to the April Issue

Andrew Feiler/Rosenwald Schools

Jill Magid

Black & White with Considerations of Grey

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Curated by Deanna Sirlin 

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The Artists​

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Lisa Alembik, Anita Arliss, Philip Carpenter, In Kyoung Chun, Susan A. Cipcic, Susan Cofer, Craig Dongoski,

Sabre Esler, Jeri Graham, Marea Haslett, Roxane Hollosi, Benjamin Jones, Mark Leibert, Pam Longobardi,

Joseph Peragine, Nicolette Reim, Corina Sephora, Jena Sibille, Jerry Siegel and Deanna Sirlin

In September 2024, The Art Section curated an online exhibition of Georgia Artists titled The Chromatic Palette. Each of a fascinating array of nineteen Georgia artists chose their own hue and created a new work that was “almost” monochrome. Instead of the conventional spectrum that I had expected, the works defined their own spectrum that ranged from a multitude of lush greens to warm browns to rosy pinks, finishing with the warmest and coolest of blues that culminated with a turquoise phthalo pigment. Color dominated in richness and form and the relationships of these new pieces to each artist’s work was uniquely rewarding.

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When visiting my studio, one of these artists asked what was next and if “perhaps The Art Section could present an exhibition that focused on black and white.” This thought provoked me to curate this new exhibition, which adds “considerations of grey.”

Twenty Artists responded. Most of these artists had taken a drawing class at some point in their lives (and many currently teach drawing) where the black mark on white paper had been the mainstay. However, it turned out that maintaining a tonal palette without any color was a challenge.

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These artists answered the question with a brilliant array of works in a multitude of different media composed of variations of tone that range from Jena Sibille’s O'Keefe in Stitches on white canvas with black thread to a delicious pun by artist Benjamin Jones’s Grey the Cat. Pam Longobardi created a new work, Night Visitors, from her backyard surveillance camera of coyotes in the garden, her grey tones as complex as the image. Philip Carpenter’s monoprint Bostitchery was made with two etching plates to create a new composition that is evocative of a mechanical Rorschach test.

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A big thank you to all the artists who contributed new works by making forays into the rich language of black and white and their contemplations of grey.

Deanna Sirlin

March 2025

Atlanta, Georgia

Jerry Siegel, Afternoon Leaves Dancing, 2025, Photograph, 12 x 12 inches