MIRIAM BEERMAN: NOTHING HAS CHANGED EXHIBIT EXTENDED - PRESS RELEASE ADDENDUM
Fueled by curatorial activism in the recent years, Yarosh has been hosting shows that re-examine artists who have made a substantial mark during their careers in a climate where female artists of the era have been on the verge of being lost to history. He extended this show, with recently added works, to keep the conversation going. A second gallery reception weekend is planned in August 2022.
“Living with Miriam Beerman’s paintings at the gallery with the current exhibit REDISCOVER, one cannot help but be both moved and stirred to be in the presence of the colossal works, heavy with paint, laden with subject. When you see these human expressionist works existing silently, holding the weight of the world, you begin to understand the gallery’s presentation of shows that re-examine the art of woman artists of the 20th century,” says Yarosh. “As I described Miriam’s art with clients, it occurred to me that those words also described the role of female artists of the 20th century—and of women’s roles in a patriarchal society.
“As I tour clients and guests through the new show, I share the context of women as mothers—our first encounters with storytellers,” Yarosh continues. “Such is the case with Miriam’s work, which contains images offering life lessons. Some of these are stories that teach us about religion or the past. Others are bedtime stories that show how the meekest among us can slay monsters—that monsters, too, need to be put in their place. In her works, you see her love of the medium and a certain kindness and mirth in her doodles.”
MIRIAM BEERMAN, Untitled “Pink Elephants & the Peanut Gallery”, 75in x 76in, 1990's, acrylic on paper
In searching for lighter, dry humor in her works, gallery visitors can see the artist’s gentle hand, too, in the untitled work-on-paper cheerfully referred to as Pink Elephants and the Peanut Gallery, which shows curled images of elephants floating mid-air and at play above the heads of naysayers denouncing creativity as a “make believe” plague of anyone who thinks outside the box.
MIRIAM BEERMAN, "Sleep of Reason II", 85in x 123in, 1990, Oil on paper
“One also can look deeper into Miriam’s talents as a colorist—filling her works with a visual joy that is explosive and involves coloring outside the lines and retelling the story,” Yarosh says, noting as an example her 120” x 78” work-on-paper Sleep of Reason II, which is an homage to Goya’s painting of Enlightenment, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters that warns that imagination in the absence of reasoning and logic may produce monsters.
“When we are ‘asleep’ as people, we cannot denounce the monsters of ignorance and vice, and Miriam certainly painted the monsters she saw walking among us, as evidenced in her works that bore such witness,” he says. “Her interpretation of Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters reflects the ideals of the Enlightenment by denouncing ignorance and highlighting the importance of awareness.”
To Yarosh, his work is personal: As a gallerist, he advocates for visual literacy by curating shows that allow people to make discoveries and to find a path to understanding what great art can look like by presenting intellectual artists to collectors. “The arts, like all of us, thrive on encouragement, which is vital to artists’ self-motivation,” he says. “One of Miriam’s collage works-on-paper includes the words In the Magnificence of Nature, the Spirit Revives, which also serve as its title.”
MIRIAM BEERMAN, 1990's, "In Magnificentia Naturae Resurgit Spiritus", 1990's, 19in x 25in, collage fragment on paper
Another stand-out work for its painterly expressiveness is the 72” x 59” canvas where the protagonist screams of being too near to the fire as that of an imagined “fish wife” fighting with her soup pot chained to her stovetop and battling a never-ending sea of dinners.
MIRIAM BEERMAN, "Fish on Friday's", 1985, 59in x 72in, oil on canvas
Expressing the Chaos, the artist documentary on Beerman streaming on both Amazon Prime and YouTube, allows us an unflinching look on the artist’s life as it chronicles her commitment to her art. “As you learn about Miriam’s life and her loss, it is clear that she had something to say and that her steadfast commitment to her art-making was paramount in her life,” Yarosh says. “She created fearless works and became a ‘painter’s painter,’ one who would not suffer fools who could not at least embrace the understanding that art is more than decoration. It seemed for her—and women artists of her day—that sometimes the gloves had to come off as one cannot paint and sit on their hands, too. Miriam Beerman’s art is representative of those who can care and love fiercely and also leap bravely forward with the will of a lion in the face of adversity: It is in those moments that greatness is found.”
MIRIAM BEERMAN, Expressing the Chaos, the artist documentary streaming on both Amazon Prime and YouTube
Miriam Beerman’s REDISCOVERY show places the artist, who passed away in February at age 98, in the context of history; she would have turned 100 in 2023. “As recently as a half-century ago, we did not see diversity, even in the arts. Even in our democracy, sexism, racism and sexual discrimination were commonplace and did not allow for equal opportunity,” Yarosh says. “Re-visiting the arts of the past century is a way to correct this and to add these voices to our art history.”
Beerman’s art is relevant at this time when women are struggling for basic liberties and to have their voices heard, and hits on many levels. Today, even as her art is represented in museums around the world, there is still more work to do. Beerman was a voice for her generation and resonates still with today’s generation.
MIRIAM BEERMAN, "Nothing has Changed", 1999, 69in x 67in, oil on canvas
Beerman’s 2009 canvas Nothing Has Changed is a portrait of a monumental female face, whose eyes are closed in resignation of her role. She disappears behind the facade of joyous yellows and pink, and her hopes painted on the right—an abstract dream vision of the imagined joy of a “happy ever after.” It encapsulates the conditioning of Scarlett O’Hara’s ambitions spread across the lawns of Tara in 1939, the white picket fence of the 1950s and every little girl’s knowing what “missing out” looks like as she feels the urgency of Cinderella to live life to the fullest before the clock strikes midnight, fearing any gains could be taken away again.
ABOUT MIRIAM BEERMAN: Miriam Beerman studied painting at the Rhode Island School for Design, where she earned a BFA. Afterward, she spent two years in France as a Fulbright Scholar, working in Atelier 17 and having her painting critiqued by Marcel Brion. In New York, she studied with Yasuo Kuniyoshi at the Art Students League and Adja Yunkers at the New School for Social Research. She has had over 30 solo shows, including at the Brooklyn Museum, the New Jersey State Museum and the Everson Museum.
Beerman’s work can be seen in many major collections, including Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum, LACMA, National Gallery of Art, Phillips Collection, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Fitzwilliam Museum in England, the MEAM in Spain, the Israel Museum and soon the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Beerman’s painting “Scorpio” is also currently on display as part of The Vault Show exhibit at University of Arizona Museum of Art through Fall 2022.
ABOUT JAMES YAROSH: Established in 1996, the James Yarosh Associates Gallery in Holmdel, New Jersey, was founded upon and remains loyal to its vision: to represent fine art for art’s sake and to curate gallery collections and thoughtfully present art and interior design specification with an artist’s eye and understanding. Yarosh, an artist and well- published interior designer, offers a full-scale gallery and design center where clients can associate with other like-minded individuals located just one hour outside Manhattan.
As a designer, Yarosh travels the world, studying how the greatest museums display their art and visiting artists’ homes to understand how the artists themselves live with their art. This study on both a grand and small scale, helps inform Yarosh’s work with his clients. His unique approach—coupled with his work in show houses and experience in large-scale residential design projects of over 20,000 square feet—has led to his designs being featured in regional and international magazines.
As a gallerist, Yarosh advocates for what greatness looks like in the arts, showcasing at his destination gallery the works of both new and established museum-recognized artists of merit in a space designed to replicate the intimacy of an artist’s home. Current exhibitions such as Miriam Beerman – REDISCOVER (2022), The Humanist Show (2021), Sheba Sharrow: History Repeats (2020) and the NYC art fair Art on Paper (2021) help foster the idea of art as intellectual engagements that sit above decoration in design hierarchy, adding exponentially to the experience of living with art.