Art auction supports emerging artists, charity

NEW YORKOctober 1, 2007

nAscent Art New York, a cutting-edge Manhattan art company, today announced its Art On The Block art event and auction for emerging artists, slated for October 25th, 2007. Art On The Block 10.25.07 is the first foray into the popular art destination of the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan. The work of nearly 30 artists, including paintings, sculpture, mixed media, and photography, will be sold, with 20% of profits going to charity. Jennifer Baron, the 22 year-old CEO and Director of Art, reviewed thousands of pieces of art from hundreds of artists before settling on the artists participating in the auction. The work can be seen at nascentartny.com. Many of the artists have done exhibitions in the city, but some have never shown work before. nAscent fans will recognize some of our artists, but we also have artists participating in their first nAscent event. The range of genres and media ensures that everyone will see something that speaks to them. nAscents current and former artists are hanging in homes, offices, private collections, and galleries, said Baron. nAscent has committed 20% of the profits from art sales to Fountain Gallery. Fountain Gallery is a not-for profit organization that provides an environment for artists living and working with mental illness. These gifted artists are members of Fountain House, an internationally renowned organization dedicated for more than 50 years to improving the lives of individuals living with mental illness. Were thrilled to be working with Fountain Gallery, said James Wallace, nAscent President and co-founder. Fountain is recognized for changing misconceptions about people with mental illness. Besides having immense talent, the nAscent emerging artists can help fellow artists in need. Its a great relationship. Art On The Block will take place Thursday, October 25th, at 508 West 26th Street # 9E in Chelsea. The event an auction will take place from 5:30-9:00pm. A preview of the art will be available on Wednesday October 24th from 6:00-8:00pm. Art On The Block will feature live jazz, food, wine, and beer.

###
CONTACT: nAscent Art New York Inc. James Wallace, 415-568-8878 wallacej@nascentartny.com SOURCE: nAscent Art New York

EDITORIAL NOTE: All likenesses of artwork are provided to nAscent under license and with permission. nAscent provides likenesses herein to credentialed media subject to restrictions. Artists and entities reserve all rights to likenesses of artwork. Likenesses of artwork may be further reproduced, disseminated, or displayed by credentialed media for the sole purpose of providing media coverage.

Clockwise from upper left: Erika Fortner, My Dad Had Cancer But He Doesnt Know It Yet, Paul Seftel, Sulphurs, John Breiner, Streets Are Hot, Galya Kovalyova, Untitled

www.nAscentArtNY.com nAscent: Coming into existence; emerging. Ascent: Movement upward to a higher state, degree, grade, or status; advancement. Mission: Committed to the advancement and promotion of emerging artists and their art. About us nAscent Art New York grew from a passion for art. The founders, Jennifer Baron and James Wallace, have realized a vision of creativity, commerce, and good karma. The New York art community, robust and varied as it is, has many established participants: museums, galleries, non-profit organizations, collectors, agents, and artists. However, for the artist, the journey from constant struggle to a highly paid solo exhibition traverses a chasm. The same can be said for those who appreciate art, attend openings, and ultimately cannot afford the original art in the big galleries. These art fans would like to display original art in their homes, offices, and apartments, but dont have the time to scour every nook and cranny looking for art that speaks to them at an affordable price. nAscent serves both the artist and the art fan. In addition, nAscent commits 20% of profits from the sales of art to charity. nAscent finds the best of the new in a variety of genres and media, bringing everything together at auction. More importantly, we give art fans the opportunity to create incentives for artists to continue creating amazing art, and to preserve the legacy of art for the future. nAscent wants people to have fun, appreciate the sacrifices of the artists, and, most of allto buy art.

nAscent supports Fountain Gallery

Through Art On the Block, nAscent Art New York is proud to support Fountain Gallery. Fountain Gallery provides an environment for artists living and working with mental illness to pursue their personal visions and to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental illness. The product of a unique vision, Fountain Gallery is a not-for-profit cooperative run by and for artists living with mental illness. Beginning with a handful of artists in the summer of 2000, the Gallery has grown to include nearly 40 artists, supported by a small professional staff and numerous dedicated volunteers. These gifted artists are members of Fountain House, an internationally renowned organization dedicated for more than 50 years to improving the lives of individuals living with mental illness. Fountain House, founded in 1948, has served a total of more than 16,000 men and women. Fountain House is a professional self-help program, operated by men and women recovering from mental illness. Its innovative clubhouse model is today the basis for more than 400 similar programs in 32 countries around the world, assisting some 50,000 men and women. The Fountain House concept has been adopted in part by another 1,000 programs in the U.S. and abroad. By exhibiting visionary art, achieving commercial success and generating public dialogue, Fountain Gallery is making a vital contribution to the New York arts community and working to change common misconceptions about people living with severe persistent mental illness.

ART on the BLOCK

Presented by: nAscent Art New York With Works By:

John Breiner Denise DeSpirito Asya Dodina Fernando Ferreira De Araujo Erika Fortner Donna Friedson Isabelle Garbani Rosemarie Jacobsohn Sam Kaplan Helen Kim Yonghee Kim Bartosz Klemensowski Galya Kovalyova Michael Krazowitz Jack Laroux William Lindsay Ntel Lahary Pittman Slava Polishchuk Lai-Chung Poon Jessica Roth Shalonda Savage Richard Scott Fred Scott Paul Seftel Gavin Sewell Yuko Ueda Evan Venegas TJ Volonis Eric Williams

SAMPLE ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

ERIKA FORTNER Artist Statement / Biography
Erika Fortner began her art career at the renowned California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, and completed Innerspark, an honors art program by California State Summer School for the Arts reserved for the states top artists. While there, she earned awards including the Seal of California, and Honorable Mentions from the U.S. Senate., and she participated in an elite show held in the office of the Governor. After leaving California, Erika attended the highly respected Pratt Institute of Fine Arts, making the Presidents List and participating in many collegiate shows. She will earn her BFA in painting from Pratt in 2008. Erika has two current bodies of work, one dealing with representational figure narrations, the other combining figurative and abstract imagery that hint at philosophical narrations. An uninhibited process melds with intuitive thought, where the artist is fully involved in each brush stroke, resembling a theatrical dance. She prefers to work in a larger than life format because of her small stature, making her more physically involved with the work as it is created. Many of the images are combinations of symbolism, memories, elemental properties, or pockets of energy whether they reference a nebula in space or an explosion in Iraq, says Erika. Erika has returned to acrylic mediums after emphasizing oils for some time. Her acrylics explore an atmospheric, landscape quality that gives her a reference point that her constructed, narrative worlds reflect. For more than 10 years, Erika has collaborated in a single female artist show in Southern California and various group exhibits, more recently in Brooklyn, NY. Her works have been published in the Back Alley Arts Magazine, and some her paintings appeared in a 2004 horror film. Erika has exhibited at Emergency Arts in Chelsea through Medium NYC Gallery. Erika now paints in Brooklyn and works in Harlem as a finish consultant and artist assistant.

JOHN BREINER Artists Statement / Biography

Born in 1980, John Breiner grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. As an only child, he took to drawing comics at an early age. After he discovered graffiti art in his teens, his passion for art grew. He moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1999 to attend the School Of Visual Arts. He soon learned techniques in printmaking, painting, and photography, all the while maintaining the efficiency, style, and freedom he had acquired from graffiti artistic styles. Although I trained as an illustrator, these days I mainly work on art for myself, developing a body of work, icons, and ideas. John works with found objects and books, attracted to their voice and past life. John explains, I like when a surface shows you that time doesnt stop. Usually discarded, I embrace these surfaces that are filled with lifes marks. I feed off that and add my own marks, sending them back out in to the world that once discarded them. My hope is that they will one day tell my story as well, and become possessions once again. He recognizes inherent benefits of books and visual art. People are busy these days. I want to make my ideas very accessible, so Ive updated a format thats successfully conveyed information for thousands of years. I only work on the end pages, where people look for the summary--no pages to scare anyone away. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. John has been featured in several publications and art collections, poising him well for the future. In the end it comes down to my love for things that arent modern, that are yellowed. I admire their lasting power. I want my work to be like that. When not creating his artistic legacy, John collects music and works as an after school counselor with children in lower Manhattan.