Four distinct forces come together three times a year to host rotating art exhibits at the Majestic Theater Condominiums in downtown Jersey City: developers, artists, tenants, and a museum.
The Exeter Development company, which renovated the 1907 theater into condos, set aside a space for the art exhibits when it built the residences. The current residents, through their condo association, pay for expenses like the opening receptions, and they also provide a stipend to the Jersey City Museum, which curates art exhibits there.
On Jan. 15, the groups held a party to kick off their latest display, “Tim Daly: Here and Away,” featuring the renowned painter who grew up in Jersey City and now lives in Hoboken.
“The partnership helps to sustain the cultural vitality of Jersey City and the region.” – Brendan Carroll
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The exhibit at the Majestic Theater Condominiums runs until April 1 in the lobby of the building at 222 Montgomery St.
‘Here and Away’
Growing up, Daly attended the School of the Visual Arts in New York, but dropped out in 1973. He is largely self-taught.
“I’m Jersey City through and through,” he said recently. “I’m also a citizen of the world and I’ve got my eyes wide open.”
He moved out of the area, and this area never leaves his mind. “The oddness of the New Jersey landscape has been what draws me,” he said. He depicts not only willowy pastures, but also empty spaces with industrial structures like satellite dishes.
This exhibition is unique in that it includes some far-flung subjects, like areas around Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and Los Angeles International Airport.
Daly tends to go on scouting missions to different places, which he photographs so he can paint or draw them later.
“He creates I think some of the most stunning landscapes of Jersey City, Northern New Jersey, and the region,” said Brendan Carroll of the Jersey City Museum, who is curating the exhibit.
The new exhibit consists of 18 works, 15 of which are drawings that Daly finished in the last year and a half. They were created using charcoal and pastel on paper, while the paintings were composed using oil and acrylic.
“The attraction to drawing is that I can see the end in sight,” Daly said. “A drawing can be executed in two or three sessions – paintings take so damn long.”
Daly’s realistic portraits are full of stark contrast, sometimes black and white instead of color.
Curating
Carroll said the partnership has worked out well.
“What this does,” he said, “is not only offer the museum a satellite exhibition space; it builds a pathway into the community and offers us another avenue to welcome the community into the museum’s exhibition and programming. I think the developers’ and the museum’s partnership helps to sustain the cultural vitality of Jersey City and the region. The Silverman bros [of Exeter] are a real wonderful friend to not only the Jersey City Museum, but to the cultural community.”
The Majestic Theater Condos were carved out starting in 2002 and the first residents moved in spring of 2004.
For more information on the exhibit or the condos, call (201) 435-8000 or check out www.majesticjerseycity.com.