Art for Social Change by Janene Gentile at BAFFA

Women Sharing Art member Janene Gentile was mentioned in Suffolk County News in a story written by Rick Chalifoux. Here is an excerpt:

ISLIP TOWN—On Sunday, the Bay Area Friends of the Fine Arts (BAFFA) held an opening reception for the opening of an art exhibit featuring the paintings of abstract expressionist Janene Gentile inside its gallery space at 47 Gillette Avenue. The paintings will be viewable at the gallery through Sept. 24.

The exhibition features more than 20 works, including some of Gentile’s large-scale autonomic paintings that have never been viewed before.

Much of Gentile’s work is thematically rooted in “art for social change” and inspired by the ethnic and cultural diversity of growing up in the Bronx in the 1970s and ’80s. She has been making art for more than 40 years, with paintings characterized by dynamic brush strokes, brilliant colors, and bold emotional expression.

“The work is really about conflict and solving conflicts with form, color and movement,” said Gentile, who works from her studio in Miller Place. “It’s all feeling and it’s all expressionism.”

Gentile is also a member of the Bayport-based Women Sharing Art – a nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing avenues for female artists to both nurture and encourage one another to further their artistic expressions.

“Women Sharing Art really encouraged me to do this,” said Gentile, who is also a musician and practices performance art. “When I was in the city, I did more pop-up galleries, so it was nothing for me to put raw canvas on a wall and be happy with that or just spray-paint in an alleyway. They’ve taught me so much about how to present my work and how to put it together [in a space like this].”

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