Tria Gallery presents CITIES OF PEACE™ ~ Transforming Anguish into Beauty
Saint Peter’s Church, New York, NY - Tria Gallery presents CITIES OF PEACE: Transforming Anguish Into Beauty at Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, from January 25 through March 10, 2008, with a reception on Thursday evening, January 31, from 6:00-8:00. On display will be three powerful and poignant illuminated paintings from the CITIES OF PEACE series created by Ellen Frank and the Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation (EFIAF).
CITIES OF PEACE is a series of monumental gold-illuminated paintings that honor the history and culture of world cities that have experienced major conflict and trauma, including Baghdad, New York, Kabul, Sarajevo, Hiroshima, Jerusalem, Beijing, Monrovia, and Lhasa. Three of the paintings in this series, like precious illuminated manuscripts now in magnified scale, will be on display at Saint Peter’s.
In light of the current war in Iraq, we will present Baghdad: City of Peace, Truly! a painting that stands in moving contrast to media representation, instead gracing us with historic and visual elements of what was the greatest city on earth from 800-1200 CE. The painting’s title issues from the city’s name itself: Baghdad was once called Dar es Salam, meaning “City of Peace.” In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, New York: This is My City ! will also be exhibited. Celebrating New York City as a beacon of liberty, the painting honors its residents in concept and content. In how many languages can we say “New York is my city”? Finally, with the world focus on China during the upcoming 2008 Olympics, Lhasa: 10 Directions will be on display. The words of a sixth-century anonymous poet cascade to the Lhasa skyline, just as the Bon myth describes the first Tibetans climbing down rainbow stairs from the sky to the mountaintops: This center of heaven, This core of the earth, This heart of the world, Fenced round with snow… With these monumental works EFIAF honors the histories, cultures and religions of these magnificent cities, and announces from New York its concern for the well-being of the world and its commitment to world peace.
The CITIES OF PEACE paintings were produced at The Illumination Atelier in East Hampton, New York by international interns under the artistic direction of Ellen Frank. More will be created in the months and years to come, all honoring cities that have been besieged, and all celebrating hope, human resilience and the best of the human spirit.
The EFIAF, a not-for-profit organization founded in June of 2004, was formed to revitalize, create and exhibit illuminated art, using historic and literary traditions to combine art and social justice, thereby promoting global peace and understanding. It is dedicated to the transformative power of art to build a culture of understanding. Ellen Frank, who conceived EFIAF and its major works as well as the Illumination Atelier, studied Art History and Connoisseurship at Yale, the Courtauld and Warburg Institutes, and has an interdisciplinary 
Ph.D. in English Literature and a Visual Arts from Stanford University. Her many awards in painting, book design and scholarship include a Fulbright Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grant, Ford Foundation fellowship, Pollack-Krasner Award in Painting, and a New York Foundation for the Arts grant.
EFIAF’s Peace Education Program, The Illumination Atelier, unites youths, artists and scholars to research and create illuminations that bridge ethnic and religious diversity and national identity. The CITIES OF PEACE paintings will tour the world, stopping next at the Philadelphia Cathedral, then back to New York City for the grand reopening of St. John the Divine in November-December of this year (where the entire series, including one new work, will be on display). In 2009 they will tour internationally.
Tria Gallery is also dedicated to using the power of art to bring about social awareness and justice. To this end, the CITIES OF PEACE paintings will be on display at Tria commencing on September 11 of this year to commemorate the anniversary of our city’s great tragedy. For more information on CITIES OF PEACE or the EFIAF, please contact Tria Gallery at (212) 695-0021 or at info@triagallerynyc.com. Pricing and availability upon request.
Tria Gallery specializes in contemporary painting and mixed media by established and emerging artists. In addition to artwork on exhibit, the gallery maintains an inventory of select works by its featured artists. Tria’s three directors, Carol Suchman, Paige Bart, and Latifa Metheny, are committed to presenting artists with compelling bodies of work, and ones whose stories, should, in their estimation, be told.
Tria is located in the heart of Chelsea, at 547 West 27th Street, Suite 504, and is open to the public. Hours are Wednesday – Saturday, 11:00-6:00. CITIES OF PEACE: Transforming Anguish into Beauty will open on September 11, 2008 at Tria Gallery. For more information, please visit www.triagallerynyc.com .