STATEMENT
"The Nature of Nature" duo exhibition at Studio Gallery, 2013.
Flora Kanter has always been fascinated by line; the drawing element that emerges in her work, both in the representational and in the more abstract expressions. Her drawings and paintings build on the linear element with the addition of color and texture. By combining the materials of various values and textures, a layering effect is created. Hence, the "process" of her work.
Her fascination with natural forms has led her to a world that serves as a metaphor for her own artistic expression.
BIO
From "The Objects From Nature/The Nature of Objects", 2014
Growing up in Washington DC afforded Flora the opportunity to enroll in art classes at the Corcoran College of Art and Design at an early age. She received her Fine Arts Degree from the University of Maryland and taught art in the public school system. She has studied with William Christenberry, Steven Cushner, William Willis, and Tom Green at the Corcoran School of Art and Design.
Flora Kanter is also a partner of ArtSPACE Management LLC, a full service art management firm committed to placing original art in corporate and residential spaces.
PRESS
Theodore's. June 16, 2015
Out of the Box DC Art Exhibit Recap
By: Sandy Carpenter
Art and interior design have shared a dynamic partnership that dates back to the early days of the Renaissance movement. Most interior designers regularly use art to illuminate a space, or invoke feelings and emotions. Luckily for us, in the DC metro area, there is no shortage of art museums and exhibits to quench one’s passion for art.
Last week Janice and I took advantage of DC’s appreciation of contemporary art, and attended the ‘Out of the Box’ exhibit at the Katzen Arts Center. The exhibit featured abstract works from two talented artists who’s artwork we have featured in our own gallery –Flora Kanter and Pam Frederick.
Washington Post Review. June 15, 2015
Pam Frederick and Flora Kanter
The title of “Out of the Box,” Flora Kanter and Pam Frederick’s show
at the Katzen Arts Center is not a boast but a pun: Underlying the
pieces are cardboard boxes. Frederick turns squashed cartons into
color-field canvases; each is painted with a block of a single pastel
shade. Kanter playfully alludes to the containers’ original purpose in
“Etagere”; its array of stacked boxes becomes a display case for paper
vases that ape ceramic collectibles.
Generally, Kanter’s work is tidier and monochromatic and Frederick’s
is more colorful and anarchic. But the two artists, both based in
Washington, are as likely to intersect as diverge. Kanter’s style
turns rougher in the black-and- white “Ocean Painting,” which somewhat
resembles a seascape; Frederick comes close to Kanter’s more
sculptural approach with “Demolition,” which resembles a metal gate.
Shaped and painted, cardboard can imitate many other surfaces. But
it’s not meant to endure, which gives “Out of the Box” its conceptual
edge. Kanter and Frederick’s gestures will outlast their medium.
Out of the Box: Flora Kanter and Pam Frederick On view through June 24
at the Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW.
www.american.edu/cas/katzen.2028852787.
Jenkins, Mark. "Photos That Link Past and Present." Rev. of Out of the Box: Flora Kanter and
Pam Frederick. Washington Post 14 June 2015, Arts and Style ed., sec. E: 13. The
Washington Post. 13 June 2015. Web. 13 June 2015.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/in-the-galleries-a-
photojournalists-journey/2015/06/11/84b65224-0deb-11e5-9726-
Washington Post Review. June 30, 2013
by: Mark Jenkins
"...Flora Kanter paints flowers, of course. Her current Studio Gallery show, “The Nature of Nature,” features bright red, orange and purple blossoms, and some lush green lily pads. Yet the key color in the local artist’s acrylic, charcoal and pencil pictures is black.
Sometimes, Kanter uses ebony backdrops to make those vivid colors pop, or give the compositions a sense of depth. But she also paints flowers, leaves and vines primarily in black and gray, with occasional red and yellow accents. Form is as important as color, if not more so. Kanter’s work is representational, but she’s as concerned as any abstract expressionist with line, motion and the quality of pigment. Strokes curve and colors run, so that the act of painting becomes part of the story.
While Kanter is certainly not a pop artist, she does arrange variations on a theme like Warholian soup cans. These sets, with names such as “The Rhythm of Nature,” can be grouped in multiples of four in rectangular formats, or bounced across a wall like musical notes in a score. Either way, the cadence is essential to Kanter’s style of flower arranging..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/exhibits/red-handed,1258273.html
PAST EXHIBITIONS
The Nature of Nature [SOLO], Studio Gallery, Washington DC, 2013
The Nature of Nature [DUO], Studio Gallery, Washington, DC, 2013
9/11 Arts Project, Studio Gallery, Washington DC, 2011
(e)merge, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington DC, 2011
New Members Show, Studio Gallery, Washington DC, 2010
elements, Prada Gallery, Washington DC 2007
Art and the Art of Living, The Residences at the Ritz Carlton, Washington DC, 2004
Loose Women, Great Falls, VA, 2004
White Walls, Corcoran School of Art and Design, Washington DC, 2000 [curated by William Christenberry]
Influence, 505 Gallery, Washington DC, 2000
Art-o-matic, Washington DC, 1999 and 2000
Off-White Walls, Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC, 2000 [curated by William Christenberry]