Yahumara Cantero Iversen, April Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series features paintings by Woodbridge, New Jersey-based Yahumara Cantero Iversen from April 1 through 30. Admission is free, and the paintings are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, April 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

The artist, who describes herself as “a mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, teacher, and friend,” is a Cuban-born, naturalized American citizen. “What best describes a connection between my ethnicity and artwork,” she says, “is the tag of being a world citizen with an Afrocuban-American spine.”

Yahumara Cantero Iversen has been a teacher with the Jersey City Public Schools for over 18 years. “I'm a priestess, artist, educator, writer, tarot reader, jewelry maker, and foreign lawyer,” she says.

Cantero lived in San Sebastián, in the Basque Country of Spain, and studied at the The Basque Country Public University, where she graduated from law school. Immediately after graduation, she traveled to the U.S., which has been her home ever since.

“During the years,” says Cantero, “I've been learning how best wear all my hats. Here I earned my master's degree in education from Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, and became a Priestess of the Afrocuban Religion of Rule of Ocha with deep roots in the religious believes and practices of the Yoruba People from the Nigeria nation in Africa.”

Stephanie Napholtz, March Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series features Greenbrook, New Jersey-based photographer Stephanie Napholtz from March 1 through 31. Admission is free, and the photographs are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, March 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Stephanie Napholtz describes herself as “a 34 year-old, Mexican/Native America, fully self-taught photographer.” She says growing up in Gillette, New Jersey, just a short trip from New York City, gave her a unique opportunity to have many different types of photography subjects — from skylines and architecture to nature and wildlife photography.

Says Stephanie, “As a teenager and young adult, I was interested in photography but never really committed to learning and mastering the craft. Around 26 I started back up with photography, it was my way to take a step back and escape from the everyday stresses and fast-paced culture we are all accustomed to. NYC is one of my favorite places in the world and with it practically in my backyard I decided to start shooting it from all angles. I fell in love with aerial photography and the freeing feeling of hanging out of a helicopter high above NYC. It is an experience like no other and it’s never the same, each time is different in its own way.”

Stephanie is equally passionate about wildlife and nature photography. “From the fast pace and stress of everyday, finding time to get back into nature, to sit and wait patiently and silently, to be able to photograph animals in their habitat is magical to me,” she says.

“I think that most people go through life not realizing or recognizing how beautiful the world around them is,” Stephanie continues. “My hope is to just give people a chance to take a moment, to slow down and see the beauty that we all tend to rush and pass by.”

Awards:

  • First and Second Place in the Natural Environment Professional Category for 2017 Somerset County Through Your Camera Lens Contest

  • First Place in the Transportation Professional Category for 2017 Somerset County Through Your Camera Lens Contest

  • Finalist, 2019 Empire State Building Photo Contest

  • Featured Artist, 2021 Autumn in New Jersey Photography Exhibition by Jersey Collective

  • First Place, Wildlife Category, Hunterdon County Library Photography Contest 2022

  • Patron’s Choice for Best Photograph, Hunterdon County Library Photography Contest 2022

Geri Caban, February Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of paintings by Hackensack, New Jersey-based artist Geri Caban, on view February 1 through 28. Admission is free, and the paintings are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, February 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Geri Caban describes his art as “a distinctive blend between pop art and expressionism.” He says, “Painting is my passion, and I love to create and mix new ideas onto a blank canvas to discover what the end result becomes. Each work of art is special in its own way. I express my feelings through my work and strive to make each piece unique and pleasing to the eye.”

Geri studied at Ramapo College and is a graduate of Parsons School of Design. During his time in college, he began to develop a passion for painting. In his spare time, to earn some extra money as a college student, as well as for practice, he would do commissioned art pieces. After his success in college, Geri had a career in the health industry, which he describes as causing “an on-and-off, 20-year impediment in my art career.” He has since found inspiration in his craft again after a decades-long hiatus, and is flourishing in his acrylic-based portraits.

Gallery on Main voted "Best of the Best" again!

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We’re thrilled that Gallery on Main was again voted WINNER for Best Antique and Collectibles Store in 2022 by MyCentralJersey readers! This is the sixth year Gallery on Main has won in this category since we opened in 2016. What an honor!

We were also named a 2022 Best Art Gallery finalist, along with Zimmerli Art Museum. This year’s winner is Grounds for Sculpture. What an honor to be included in such amazing, acclaimed company (which are two of our favorite art galleries, too)! This is the seventh consecutive year since we opened that Gallery on Main has been recognized in this category. We look forward to another exciting year presenting our Artist of the Month series and other works by New Jersey artists!

Lauren Faltas, January Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of photography by Wayne, New Jersey resident Lauren Faltas on view January 2 through 31. Admission is free, and the photographs are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, January 7, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

A high-school senior, Lauren Faltas is the youngest artist to ever be featured as a Gallery on Main Artist of the Month. She is co-president of her school’s photography club, and has her own photography business.

Jean Best, December Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of paintings by lifelong New Jersey resident Jean Best, on view December 1 through 30. Admission is free, and Best’s works are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, December 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Contemporary painter Jean Best began her artistic career in the publishing field, creating numerous magazine and children’s book illustrations, as well as book jacket designs. She quickly embraced the medium of watercolor, where her impressionistic style of painting integrates the dramatic interplay of light, shadow and color.

Recently, Jean Best has exclusively been exploring acrylic pour art, which is elevated by her illustrative skill. Her use of magical patterns spill across the page and envelop the eye with vibrant hues and riot of colors. Her works have been featured in numerous solo shows and various group exhibitions and extensive outdoor shows throughout the local area.

Says the artist, “Painting in this moment is the connecting force that blends all artists, past through future. It is the divine opportunity to capture a small passage of time on paper, allowing us only a moment to become enfolded in our dreams and passions. The artist can only begin this creative process by inviting the viewer to join in the journey; the process continues as the viewer accepts the magical message which the painting speaks.”

Jean Best’s paintings have been featured in the Donald Palmer Museum, the South Orange Library, the permanent collection of duCret School of the Arts, of which she is a graduate, and the “All Women All Art” exhibition in Maplewood Village, as well as many private collections. She recently exhibited in the juried three-day show “A Return to Art” in Princeton, where her technique of creating full-size paintings on canvas without the use of any paintbrushes intrigued many viewers. Jean’s passion for life is evident in her energetic paintings, and her works are being enjoyed on the East and West coast of the U.S. as well as in Switzerland.

Nancy J. Ori, November Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of photographs by Berekely Heights, New Jersey-based photographer Nancy J. Ori, on view November 1 through 30. Admission is free, and Ori’s works are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, November 5, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Ori predominantly photographs in the ever-changing landscape, but over the past several years has combined mixed media and abstract images into her mix of interests. Her work has been widely collected and exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the globe, and has been chosen for inclusion in numerous grant projects and important fine art exhibits including the prestigious New Jersey Fine Arts Annual. Her work is in private and museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Along with exhibiting her own work, Ori has curated and juried hundreds of exhibits at a wide variety of venues internationally.

Ori is the owner of New Jersey Media Center, LLC in Berkeley Heights, where she continues to do product, portrait, and food photography. She also enjoys teaching photography globally as well as exhibiting her fine art photographs. Nancy was taught by Ansel Adams and then affiliated for many years on the teaching staff of the Ansel Adams Workshop in California. She is currently on the faculty of local museums and art centers in New Jersey and teaches privately.

Often introduced as the ‘woman in charge of photography’ in New Jersey, in 1991, she established The New Jersey Heritage Workshops, a series of painting and photography workshops which she holds in the spring in Cape May. In 1995, she founded the New Jersey Photography Forum, which over the years under Ori’s direction has become the largest and most recognized group of fine art exhibiting photographers in the metro area.

Nancy J. Ori obtained a BA degree in Fine Arts from Elmira College, Elmira, New York and an MS degree in Visual Communications from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. For 25 years, she worked for Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Pharmaceuticals as their in-house corporate photographer and manager of video and photography services for Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

Steve Epstein, September Artist of the Month

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of paintings by New Jersey-based artist Steve Epstein, on view September 1 through 30. Admission is free, and the artist’s works are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, July 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Epstein’s work has been exhibited in dual artist shows at the Hamilton Gallery in 2019 (Midnight Mercury) and 2016 (Road Work), and was selected for a solo show at the Monmouth Museum for their 2014 Emerging Artist Series. While working as an x-ray technician, he had paintings on 7 covers of the trade magazine “Radiologic Technology” after being a winner in their cover contest.

Artist’s Statement

Says Epstein, “My influences start with Modern Art, that is I mean Impressionism and afterwards, Expressionism, Film Noir, and Social Realism. I particularly appreciate the masters of horror and absurdity of the 20th century; Picasso and Bacon; the spiritual isolation of Hopper and van Gogh.

“I paint what I see, feel or imagine, often trying to combine all options. My motivations are often based on contradictory impulses leading to an indefinite conclusion, rather than trying for a vision or ideal which is out of reach. I like to use heightened impressions of ordinary surroundings and circumstances and try to find atmosphere and mood in the commonplace. My paintings are places or events that I choose to dwell in for a while. I often use prints of bad digital photographs as reference points or maps that help me get to those places. I work mostly in acrylics on canvas, or hardboard when I want to get ‘physical’ with a painting. Lately I’ve been experimenting with mixed media, adding collage elements and using oil pastels on my acrylic paintings. When I paint, jazz or the blues are usually playing in the background.

“I consider myself a semi-educated artist in that I’ve taken classes at places like the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan but don’t have any degrees in art and try to learn through working. To me, painting is often an adventure in a search for meaning, a record of a discourse between what’s going on inside of me and what’s going on outside of me.

A lot of more recent work was based on impressions from my long drives home from work going North up route 1 in New Jersey. My pressures and frustrations from the work day would dissolve into the colors of night as I decompressed. The neon lights against the dark streets, the penumbra of the traffic lights, the darkened geometries and odd shadows from the artificial light on the strip malls that I passed with their lit up window displays. The reflections on a wet night. I like the feeling of the boundaries dissolving between the real and the abstract. I try to put some of that magic atmosphere, mystery and mood in my paintings.

Dion Hitchings, Artist of the Month: Portraits on Recycled Trash

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Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of mixed-media work by Milford, New Jersey-based artist Dion Hitchings, on view August 1 through 31. Admission is free, and the artist’s works are available for purchase.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, August 6, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Says Hitchings of his Portraits on Recycled Trash series, “Within my artwork I have found my own ‘unique world’ which has no rules or boundaries. My inspirations are varied and vast, everything from dreams and Indians, nuns and demons, the Jerry Springer Show and chickens to sins and celebrities. My world, and therefore my art, is guaranteed to be colorful, self-revealing, emotional, childlike and an ‘eye full’ to all who view it.”

Hitchings creates sophisticated works with various children's art supplies including, crayons, magic markers, highlighters and colored pens. He explains, “Using consumer boxes, discarded furniture and ‘trash’ instead of traditional drawing surfaces has enabled me to break down pre-existing print, images, and textures while allowing the type and pictures from the recycled object to become organically part of the portrait.”

He continues, “During the creative process, I discovered the need to deconstruct then reconstruct the face to fit within the shape of the surface. The results are portraits that have a shattered appearance, with broken and missing pieces, but also form a more powerful, interesting and often disturbing viewpoint.”