The following is from the South Orange Performing Arts Center
The juxtaposition of inner life and outer reality is explored in Dorothy Anderson Wasserman’s photography exhibit on view December 15, 2016-February 23, 2017 in the Herb & Milly Iris Gallery at the South Orange Performing Arts Center, One SOPAC Way, South Orange, NJ. A free opening reception on December 17, 6-7:30 p.m. will celebrate the new exhibit and allow the public to enjoy refreshments while they browse the intricacies of the photo collages.
“The first time I saw Ms. Wasserman’s work, I was immediately drawn into her fictitious and non-fictitious narratives so intricately woven into a mosaic,” says Jeremy Moss, Curator of the Herb & Milly Iris Gallery. “Each piece has its own compelling story.”
Ms. Wasserman’s work takes the viewer on a fascinating journey of surrealist visual narratives that ask you to be a participant in the story as you are confronted with images that provoke questions and encourage discussion. Ms. Wasserman’s photographs are cut, rearranged and then pieced together in layers of chaos and clarity. She tells a spellbinding story using images from the past, present and an imagined future. It is truly contemporary surrealist collage in its finest form.
The Herb & Milly Iris Gallery is open Mon-Sat noon-6 p.m. and 2 hours prior to performances. The artwork on display is for sale, unless otherwise noted, with partial proceeds supporting SOPAC.
About the artist
Dorothy Anderson Wasserman is a visual artist, photographer, art educator, tap dancer, and choreographer. These careers have crisscrossed over the span of over 4 decades, informing and enlivening the directions taken. Throughout all the years, her deep and abiding love of music has been evident.
Since 1999, Dorothy has been creating photo collages using all of her own photographs and assembling them by hand, with the finished work digitized and printed on archival paper. In 2015, Dorothy was chosen as a semi-finalist in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition as part of the National Portrait Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution with her collage “Self-Portrait as Maria Portinari.”
Dorothy has been an art educator in New Jersey since 1991. She received the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Artist/ Educator Initiative Grant in 2005 with which she created “First Avenue South” and “Wherever You Go, There You Are.” Another parallel career is that of a tap dancer and choreographer. In 1987 she appeared in the movie TAP starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. with credits as a performer and choreographer. She is the creator of the internationally known variation of the classic tap dance The Shim Sham Shimmy called The Dorothy Shim Sham. She has been teaching dance and choreographing in northwest New Jersey for 26 years.
