Vincent Pepi

Helen Meyrowitz

Annette Merlis

Merle Temkin

文森特 · 佩比

弗兰克 · 温伯利

海伦 · 梅约维茨

安妮特 · 梅利斯

默尔· 特姆金

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The idea for our exhibit “Prime Time” was inspired by artwork currently in the Islip Art Museum Permanent Collection.

For 42 years the museum has been exhibiting and collecting contemporary artwork. While recently reviewing the archives, we realized that several artists in the collection were still, decades later, creating important masterful work. It was obviously time for the museum to look back and develop an exhibit that honors those artists. We shared our idea for this show with the artists and their response was enthusiastic. The respect and affection these masters have for the Museum and its mission makes this exhibit feel more like a homecoming.

The work in this exhibit connects us with important cultural and historical narratives. After World War II New York City became the center of the art world. Artist, musicians, writers, and poets came together in downtown Manhattan and formed the “New York School”. In the 1950s these reactionary artists re-imagined the power and importance of the creative spirit. From this movement came the Abstract Expressionist American painters such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. Their work is often characterized by gestural brush-strokes or mark-making, and the impression of spontaneity and improvisation, like jazz and beat poetry.

All of the artists in this exhibit take us back to the New York School. Vincent Pepi was a member of “The Club” and knew, worked, and studied with all the artists from the New York School. Frank Wimberley is an abstract expressionist artist and musician who jammed with Miles Davis and Ron Carter. Helen Meyrowitz knew Willem de Kooning and often exhibited with him. Annette Merlis moved to New York City in the late 1950s. In her thirties she was so inspired by the work being produced by the New York School artists that she decided to become an artist herself. Merle Temkin started her education in the late 1950s at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago   as a painter studying abstract expressionism then moved beyond this movement to create her own place in New York’s rich cultural heritage. The body of work produced and list of accolades and honors received by the artists in this exhibit after more than 70 years of creating important work is extensive.

In the galleries, the individual artists’ personal statements and biographies are presented as well as their thoughts about their work and the question “What inspires me to create?

Thank you Annette Merlis, Helen Meyrowitz, Vincent Pepi, Merle Temkin, and Frank Wimberley for the time you all gave and for allowing me into your homes and studios. You are all the most talented, insightful, generous, and joyful people I have had the honor to meet. We all have much to learn from you.

Christine O’Malley

Curator , “Prime Time”, Islip Art Museum