Garden Drawings
Marcia Neblett

GALLERY II

Marcia Neblett, Fennel (detail), 2021, Charcoal, Conté, graphite on paper, 24 x 18 inches.

November 18 – December 17, 2023

Opening reception: Saturday, November 18 from 6–8pm

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to announce Garden Drawings, an exhibition of new work by Alum Member Marcia Neblett. This is Neblett’s second solo exhibition in New York City. 

The Garden Drawings began during the pandemic in 2021, when Neblett was invited by the curators of Virginia MOCA to take part in a collaborative exhibition with twelve regional artists who were each partnered with local food experts, ranging from farmers and chefs to authors and advocates. Neblett was partnered with a local farmer whose mission was to help us understand the power of plants for our bodies and the planet when grown in certain ways.  The body of work Neblett presents here reflects that partnership and what she learned about how nature acts when left to its own devices. Garden Drawings includes six drawings from the MOCA exhibition and nine new drawings, created in 2023, that expand upon the initial series. 

Neblett focuses visually on the shapes and textures of the vegetables. She employs the same bold, graphic method of shading with linear hatching and cross-hatching that she uses in her woodcuts. In this series, Neblett allows herself the freedom to scribble or let her hand wander with the pencil in order to create the feeling of chaos in the backgrounds of the carefully drawn vegetables.  The chaotic random element echoes the process of natural farming that she observed in the farming community of Virginia Beach, where plants and vegetables were allowed to grow wildly on their own accord, without being subject to pruning or other maintenance practices.

Marcia Neblett, originally from New York City, currently resides in Norfolk, Virginia. She received her BFA in Studio Art from SUNY Purchase College and her MFA in painting and printmaking from Stony Brook University

Neblett has exhibited her works in venues such as Virginia MOCA, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Everson Museum of Art, the Muscarelle Museum of Art, the Plains Art Museum, The Nehru Center in Mumbai, Lalit Kala Akademi in Chennai, Ojas Gallery in New Delhi, Art Space Dubai, Brent Sikkema Gallery, IFPDA Print Fair, the Salmagundi Club, Jacob Javits Center, KSpace Contemporary, and A.I.R. Gallery.

She has participated in residencies that include The MacDowell Colony, The Alden B. Dow Creativity Center, The Vermont Studio Center, and The Chautauqua Artist Residency. Neblett’s work has been reviewed by The New York Times, Art India magazine, The Times of India, The Economic Times, The New India Express, the Hindu, the Virginian-Pilot, Savannah Morning News, and the Herald Journal.

Neblett is an active educator who is passionate about global art education and teaching college students. She brings over twenty years of post-secondary, undergraduate, and graduate-level teaching experience to her teaching practice. Neblett received three Fulbright awards and taught at the Malaysian Institute of Art (2023); the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai (2007), the first arts school started by the British in India; and at the Stella Maris College (2014), one of the few colleges in India that exclusively serves women. Neblett is also a TEDx speaker.

In addition to her Fulbright teaching experiences, Neblett has taught art in Sri Lanka and in Italy with SCAD’s Study Abroad program. Neblett has been a Visiting Faculty/and or Visiting Artist at institutions in the United States and abroad including: Salisbury University, The College of William and Mary, Texas A & M, Savannah State University, North Dakota State University, The City University of New York/ Lehman College, The College of Visual and Performing Arts in Sri Lanka, and the Manipal University in India.

Neblett has held faculty positions at a range of diverse institutions from New York City to Georgia and Virginia. Among them are: The City University of New York/Baruch College, Cazenovia College, Housatonic Community College, Farmingdale State College, The Savannah College of Art and Design, and Norfolk State University, where she currently teaches studio art.

Her website is: www.marcianeblett.com.

View the Press Release here.

View Marcia Neblett’s page here.

Photography: Matthew Sherman