The centennial Twin Maples show house will be open to visitors six days a week (closed Mondays) from October 1st through November 2nd, 2008. Proceeds will benefit both the Twin Maples Historic Preservation Fund and The Cancer Center at Overlook Hospital.

Room 17 Gentleman’s Powder Room – “A Room with a Loo”

Nestled just off the landing of a main staircase, the sighting of this bathroom must have been the subject of some hand-wringing by the prior occupants of the home. To update such a diminutive space, Shannon Hall partnered with Waterworks to create a more sophisticated and polished loo. Shannon’s design was inspired by a lowcountry grass cloth wallpaper that she had found and cataloged for such an occasion. The grass cloth provides the perfect foil for the polished nickel elements, such as Waterwork’s 8 x 10 Normandy lavatory. Shannon’s tile design included elements from Waterworks Architectonics line and includes mini-brick Calcutta Gold flooring to match the Calcutta Gold counter.

James Yarosh Associates selected Narazyan's artwork for this particular room because of the mix of sophisticated yet whimsical qualities that characterize his body of work. His common themes of circus, travel and life journey are intended to provide a unique and complicated facet to discover for the intimate powder room setting.

Narazyan utilizes a style of blending old-world images with futuristic visions to create a world of mystery and enchantment for the viewer to explore. Born 1957 in Kislovodsk, Russia and currently residing in the Ukraine, Narazyan graduated from Kharkiv Art Institute. He developed a style, now coined romantic fantasy, as part of the historical Non-conformist Art Movement. This movement took place during the Cold War, when dissident Soviet artists produced a dramatic, vital body of artwork that was forbidden and secret, but that survived and flourished despite persecution.

Many artists, including Narazyan, risked personal safety, imprisonment, and exile in their quest for individual expression. In opposition to the government-prescribed patriotic style of Socialist Realism, these “unofficial” artists worked in prohibited styles and depicted forbidden subject matter concerned with politics, religion and eroticism.
Until glasnost and the end of the Soviet Union, few people were familiar with the richness of this art. Today, Narazyan’s work is represented in museums and private collections around the world including the Zimmerli Art Museum's famous Dodge Collection which highlights many of the persecuted Soviet artists’ work.

During the Cold War, Norton Dodge, Professor Emeritus of Economics at St. Mary's College of Maryland, smuggled thousands of these precious works of art out of Russia to be saved for future generations. Over this thirty-year period, he ended up amassing a collection of approximately 10,000 pieces of art by more than 900 Soviet artists. Dodge then donated this priceless collection, which includes seven of Narazyan's pieces, to the Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum.

In addition to his inclusion in the prestigious Dodge Collection, Narazyan has received wide acclaim for his unique body of work. In March 2003, he was named Art & Antiques Magazine’s “Emerging Artist” and was featured in the magazine again in January 2008. Narazyan’s work has recently enjoyed much success in his home nation of Ukraine, specifically in the capital city of Kiev, and has been sold internationally through James Yarosh Associates since 1997.
James Yarosh Associates Fine Art Gallery is located an hour outside New York City in the Design and Fine Arts Building at 55 East Main Street, in Holmdel, NJ. Gallery hours are Saturday from 12 noon to 4 pm, or evenings by appointment. James Yarosh Associates is a nationally recognized art gallery which provides personalized fine art services to individuals and professional design firms for both corporate and residential projects. For more information or upcoming events, visit www.jamesyarosh.com. For more information on the show house, visit www.historictwinmaples.org.

Sources & Credits:
SHANNON HALL, NY, NJ and Charleston SC 843.377.8867 www.shannonhalldesigns.com
and CINDY COVACH of WATERWORKS, NJ 201.689.7500. www.waterworks.com