Arthur B. Zorn
Biography
Arthur Zorn is a self-taught abstract impressionist who largely works with acrylic paint, found objects, and interdisciplinary mediums including music and film. His small and large-scale paintings depict deconstructed landscapes, abstracted natural objects, and emotions transcribed on the canvas. Although he was interested in the visual arts as a child (b. 1954) in the Bronx, it wasn’t until he was established in his career in music education and performance in Vermont (Lyndon State College, B.S.) that he began to experiment with artistic expression outside of the music he composed. Zorn’s first solo visual art show, aptly named “Improvisations,” took place in 2004 at the Bundy Gallery in Waitsfield, VT.
Capitalizing on his interdisciplinary background, Zorn participated in multiple programs at the Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities, and studied most notably with John Jerome O’Connor. At Mayapple, artists are encouraged to “cultivate imagination through artistic and intellectual cross-pollination in a distinctly twenty-first century climate.” There, Zorn experimented with the intersection between visual arts and music as he contemplated art activism, protest, and themes of climate change. His recent paintings reflect his concern with climate change and the increasingly warming planet.
Zorn’s paintings have appeared in multiple shows, venues, and art walks throughout Vermont. He was selected twice as the featured artist for the “Governor’s Art Exhibit” in Montpelier. The State of Vermont’s Supreme Court and Pavilion State Office house semi-permanent collections of Zorn’s work with forty-five paintings on display.
Zorn collaborates with private collectors who have commissioned original paintings and murals, and his paintings are housed in private collections throughout the United States including California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Vermont. Zorn resides at his art studio in Barre, VT.
Artist Statement
I am an abstract expressionist who creates paintings out of contemplations, emotions, and deconstructed scenes from flowers to natural landscapes. I paint to produce a symbiosis between my emotive state and the spectator’s gaze. As a musician and a visual artist, I create art with an improvisational approach. To that end, I create in a spirit of spontaneity with no particular outcome in mind. I paint visual art with the same process I would use to improvise on the piano, even in regards to tempo. When I am working on commissioned pieces, I approach the desired outcome from a place of mindfulness and contemplation with the materials at hand.
My medium is acrylic. I work with a variegated palette of color. One of my techniques is to reveal and conceal layers in a process of imbricating the textures in the painting. I veil and unveil as I paint, removing the surface layer to rediscover earlier layers of color and texture. Interacting with the spectator is as meaningful to me as creating the work; I relish witnessing the life of the painting as it shifts to a private or public gallery space. I welcome intellectual and artistic collaborations.
Resume
2022
Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT
Group Shows
Tell Us A Story
May 5 - June 19
Parks & Recreation,
June 23 - September 5
Gems and Giants
December
Lost Nation Theater Gallery
Solo Show for Winter
November - March 2023
Montpelier Art Walk - Christ Church solo show
November
Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) Friday. at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier (two paintings )
June 3rd from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m
Montpelier Art Walk - Bethany Center for Arts ,115 Main Street, Montpelier VT
Solo Show
June 6 - July 6
AVA Juried Exhibition | As We Tilt Towards the Sun
Janie Cohen, Director of the Fleming Museum of Art, Burlington, VT - esteemed Juror
2 paintings
June 17-July 8,
Parks & Recreation, 3 paintings
June 23 - September 5
Bennington Museum (Bennington, VT)t contemporary works depicting Vermont’s State Parks - Parks & Recreation from Bryan Memorial Gallery exhibition
July 2 – December 31, 2022,Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT Tell Us A Story exhibition, 3 large paintings
May 5 - June 19
Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) Friday. at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier (two paintings )
June 3rd from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m
Montpelier Art Walk - Bethany Center for Arts ,115 Main Street, Montpelier VT
Solo Show June 6 - July 6
AVA Juried Exhibition | As We Tilt Towards the Sun
Janie Cohen, Director of the Fleming Museum of Art, Burlington, VT - esteemed Juror
2 paintings
June 17-July 8,
2021
AVA Gallery and Art Center
Calling from the Moonling Group Exhibition (2 paintings accepted)
October - November
Espresso Bueno Coffee & Food, Barre, VT
Presents a New Art Exhibit and Sale
Basically Blue, Basically New
Featuring Barre artist, Arthur Zorn
May- June
Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities
Participant: Hall Art Foundation- Reading, VT
Private (comprehensive) tour
September
SIP & PAINT with renaissance man Arthur Zorn
He’s Back! You asked for it and you got it! Arthur Zorn is returning for his 4th Annual “Sip and Paint!” Creative painting techniques, wine, food and fund will be mixed for a pallet of painting pleasures
August 10
2020
Studio Place Arts, Barre
Botanical Blitz, Main Floor Gallery (2 painti)
Group Show turning the gallery into a botanical refuge
January 21 - March 7
2019
Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities
Participant: Art of Protest
A ten-day residential workshop on art as political resistance planned at Sarah Lawrence College.
June 13-22
Painting Party
Fairlee, VT Town Hall Auditorium
Paint you own mini masterpiece with VT artist Arthur Zorn
September 22
2018
Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities
Participant: Writing Songs that Matter to Us and the World
Dar Williams, songwriter
December
45 paintings by Arthur Zorn
On extended loan to the State of Vermont in the VT Supreme Court and Pavilion Office Building
2018-2022
2017
Southern Vermont Arts Center
Participant: Mareva Millarc: Abstract Painting Workshop
April 6-9
Lost Nation Theater Gallery, Montpellier, VT
Into The Woods, Arthur Zorn is back with his “Forests” art exhibition
“Each painting an imagination of a forest some place, some time some adventure”
May- June
2016
Lost Nation Theater Gallery, Montpellier, VT
During the run of Hairspray, LNT’s Lobby Gallery presents the work of Arthur Zorn
“We are delighted to have him back again!”
April
2015
Lost Nation Theater Gallery, Montpelier, VT
Posies for Patsy - Blooms on Canvas by Arthur Zorn
June 4-21
2014
Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities
Participant: Confusing the Controller
John Jerome O’Connor, Professor of Art, Sarah Lawrence College
July 21-25
Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities
Participant: Chamber Music Now: Skills for Modern Music
Mary Rowell & The Philip Glass Ensemble, Intensive 5 day workshop
June 23-27
Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities
Participant & Guest Host
Music Composition & Notation
Manuel Sosa: Chair of Ear Training and member of the Composition Faculty of the Juilliard School August 4-8
Barre Opera House Exhibition
Zorn’s art fills the grand lobby,
September - December
2011
Governor Peter Shumlin invites you to the Governor’s Gallery - The Pavilion Office Building
Fall Dance and Autumn Hues - Arthur Zorn, guest artist
2008
Governor James Douglas invites you to the Governor's Gallery - The Pavilion Office Building
Improvising Visions - Arthur Zorn, artist
June- July
Four-Star Exhibit, Burlington, VT Art Path
Arthur Zorn’s “13 paintings combines abstract sensibilities with sophisticated chromatic harmonies” (Seven Days)
November- January
La Brioche Bakery & Cafe, Montpelier, VT
Original Works of Arthur Zorn
September - May
Blooms into Spring
The Skinny Pancake, Montpelier VT
Bright acrylic “representational” abstract impressions of flowers and more by Arthur Zorn
April
45 paintings by Arthur Zorn on exteanded loan
The Pavilion Office Building and VT Supreme Court, Montpelier
2007
New Work of Arthur Zorn
Solo Show, Bundy Center for the Arts Waitsfield, VT
January - March
2005
Line Dances, Exhibit & Concert at The White Meeting House - an exhibit of Barre artist Arthur Zorn’s abstract impressionistic paintings and a piano concert by Mr Zorn.
2004
Improvisations
Solo Show, Bundy Center for the Arts Waitsfield, VT
July- November
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