Vivo Fine Art To Go Live in Woodstock on July 24

New Gallery Opens with the Art of Erica Danielle Franz, Jill Allyn Stafford and Isaac Abrams

On Saturday, July 24, 2010, Vivo Fine Art will officially open its doors with a reception from 4 to 6 P.M. Located at the gateway to town, 105-A Mill Hill Road (next to Cucina Restaurant), the new gallery is dedicated to championing the work of vibrant artists from around the country. “Woodstock is pulsating with positive, creative energy,” says gallery owner Marco Ferrero. “It’s the perfect place to showcase dynamic art.” Ferrero, together with his partner, curator Jennifer Glickman, are the primary forces behind Vivo, which literally means “I live.” The gallery is opening with a show of recent work by Erica Danielle Franz of Maui, HI, Jill Allyn Stafford of Sacramento, CA and Isaac Abrams of Saugerties, NY.

Vivo plans to host monthly gallery talks. The first such presentation will be incorporated into the opening on July 24. Erica Danielle Franz, a graduate of Cornell and a self-taught artist, will demonstrate how the raw energy of animal spirit inspires her brushwork. She has been in Woodstock for a number of weeks this summer, channeling Catskill Mountain and Hudson River Valley fauna and flora. The results are a sweeping set of gallery murals, and a stunning collection of vividly painted furniture. Franz’s work shares space in the gallery with a series of beautifully layered collages by Jill Allyn Stafford, a California-based artist who uses mixed media to create visual stories and exquisitely nuanced landscapes. Isaac Abrams, an internationally known psychedelic artist, is debuting several pieces of etched-glass sculpture at Vivo.

Gallerists Glickman and Ferrero are Woodstock residents whose backgrounds include high-profile assignments in the arts. Glickman is a Bard graduate who earned a Master’s Degree from Pratt in Arts and Cultural Management while working at the world-renowned Aperture Foundation—where she coordinated their newly founded educational lecture series. Says Glickman, “Contextualizing art and its process deepens the viewer’s experience and appreciation.” Owner Ferrero is a visual artist whose Optical Delusion company scores gigs at festivals throughout the world. In 2006 he designed a presentation to celebrate Dr. Albert Hofmann’s 100th birthday in Basel, Switzerland. The next year he created a film that was played at Elton John’s 60th birthday party and 60th performance at Madison Square Garden.

A portion of Vivo’s profits will be donated annually to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Jenn Glickman’s step sister, Jennifer Hoffmann, courageously and fully lived with breast cancer for nine years before losing her battle with the disease in April 2009 at the age of 37. The gallery’s name and spirited hummingbird logo are dedicated to her memory. Glickman and Ferrero plan to support art-as-healing therapy through the gallery’s artists, lectures and children’s workshops.