Andrew Werth

About Me

Andrew Werth, Princeton Junction, New Jersey, USA

Photograph of artist Andrew Werth in his studio

Artist Statement

I have long been interested in the mind: consciousness, perception, thinking, psychology, and the self. My ongoing study of these and related subjects informs much of my abstract painting. The titles of my paintings are clues to concepts that I find fascinating in the philosophy and science of mind.

One idea I’ve found particularly intriguing is the notion of embodiment: that how we make sense of the world is directly shaped by the physical nature of our bodies. For example, the colors we see are due to the pigmentation in our eyes as well as the neural structure of our brain. We generally think of vision as being like photography, where an entire image is presented to us at once. However, vision might be better compared—surprisingly—to touch, since it is only through the continuous probing and movement of our eyes that we are able to construct the world around us. Notions of embodiment, metaphor, and mental “strange loops” are recurrent themes in my work.

My paintings are built up through a slow, deliberate process that consists of thousands of individual brushstrokes applied one at a time. The markings (derived from the mazes I drew as a child) provide a structure in which to explore perceptual effects and the interaction of color.  I design interactions between the underpainting and the mark-making and between foreground and background at multiple levels of abstraction. I strive to create paintings where the viewer will want to keep looking, from near and afar, from different angles and in different lighting, always finding something new to stimulate the eye and the mind.

Education

My arts education has been self-directed, drawing upon a diversity of resources throughout New York City, including the School of Visual Arts, The New School, and the Art Students League. In addition to the arts, I have studied philosophy of mind and cognitive psychology at The New School. My formal degrees are:

Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
M.S. Information Networking (1992)

Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
B.S. Computer Engineering (1991)

Resume

Solo and Two-Person Shows

2024M Galleries Fellowship, Basking Ridge, NJ: Soft Curves and Hard Edges
2023Art Fair 14C, 5th edition, Jersey City, NJ
2022Art Fair 14C, 4th edition, Jersey City, NJ
2021The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ: Organic Abstractions
2020Art Fair 14C, 2nd edition, Jersey City, NJ
2016Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ: Morphogenesis
2015Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Curves Ahead, 2-person show with Alan J Klawans
2014Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Ideal Forms, 2-person show with Alan J Klawans
2013Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Concepts + Realizations, 2-person show with Alan J Klawans
2012Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Patterns & Meaning, 2-person show with Alan J Klawans
2011Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Curves and Colors, 2-person show with Alan J Klawans
2010Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Reflections, 2-person show with Charles Katzenbach
2009Artists’ Gallery, Lambertville, NJ: Internal/External, 2-person show with Marc Reed
2007Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ: Embodiment

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023Trenton Free Public Library, Trenton, NJ: Patterns and Rhythms
2023The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: TAWA at 45: A Survey of Art from the Trenton Artists Workshop Association
2023The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open 40
2023The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2023
2022The Painting Center, New York, NY: Break of Day, Edge of Night
2022The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2022
2022The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open 39
2022The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ: 2022 Members’ Show
2021The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open 37/38
2020The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2020
2020Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ: R’emerged
2020The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ: 2020 Members’ Juried Exhibition
2020Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ: 41st Anniversary Juried Exhibition
2019West Windsor Arts Center, Princeton Junction, NJ: Math and Art
2019Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY: Summer 2019 Juried Show
2019The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2019
2019The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open 36
2019The Painting Center, New York, NY: Green: The Impossible Color
2019West Windsor Arts Center, Princeton Junction, NJ: Fiction: The Art Show
2019Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ: 40th Anniversary Juried Exhibition
2018Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ: Does It Match the Couch?
2018Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ: Viewpoints 2018
2018The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open 35
2018West Windsor Arts Center, Princeton Junction, NJ: Abstraction
20183rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA: Winter Juried Exhibition
2017The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open 34
2017Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ: Free Form
2017Trenton Library, Trenton, NJ: Walls on Walls
2017The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2017
2016West Windsor Arts Center, Princeton Junction, NJ: The Art of Discovery
2016Lakefront Gallery RWJUH, Hamilton, NJ: TAWA Invitational
2016Arts Guild New Jersey, Rahway, NJ: Meditations
2016The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2016
2015University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD: Bridges 2015 Conference Art Exhibition
2015Bowery Gallery, New York, NY: 2015 National Exhibition
2015Artists of Yardley, Yardley, PA: 2015 AoY Juried Exhibition
2015The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2015
2014The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ: 2014 International Juried Exhibition
2014Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA: Benefit for Ballet X
2014Arts Guild New Jersey, Rahway, NJ: NEXUS
2014Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL: BRAIN-ART Initiative
2014West Windsor Arts Center, West Windsor, NJ: Winners’ Circle
2013The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2013
2012Art Times Two Gallery, Princeton, NJ: Energy in Mind
2012Prince Street Gallery, New York City: Trenton Makes
2012The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Trenton, NJ: Trenton Makes
2012Arts Guild New Jersey, Rahway, NJ: Prismatic
2012Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ: Art of Illusion
2012The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2012
2011The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2011
2010Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA: Absolutely Abstract
2010Muse Gallery, Philladelphia, PA: Sirius Art Summer Show
2010The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Face Value
2010The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open XXVIII
2010The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2010
2009Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Dreaming
2009The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ: Ellarslie Open XXVII
2009The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2009
2009Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, NJ: Real or Otherwise Around
2009Bernardsville Public Library, Bernardsville, NJ: Ambassador’s Portrait Show 2009
2008Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA: Absolutely Abstract 2008
2008Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Fall 2008 Group Show
2008Ellarslie Museum, Trenton, NJ: Trenton Artists Workshop Association Inside Out
2008Ellarslie Museum, Trenton, NJ: Trenton Artists Workshop Association Past, Present, Forward
2008The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists 2008
2008D&R Greenway Land Trust, Johnson Education Center, Princeton, NJ: Matter of Perspective — Personal Landscapes
2008Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Winter 2008 Group Show
2007Limner Gallery, Hudson, NY: A Show of Heads
2007Shore Institute of Contemporary Art (SICA), Long Branch, NJ: Fourth Annual International Juried Show
2007Ellarslie Museum, Trenton, NJ: Trenton Artists Workshop Association Summer Salon
2007Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Art in Bloom
2007Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Winter 2007
2007The Gallery @ Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ: Mercer County Artists
2006ARTWORKS, Trenton, NJ: Trenton Artists Workshop Association Summer Salon
2006Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Summer 2006 Group Show
2005Segalas Art, Summit, NJ: Landscapes, Still Lifes, & Abstracts
2005Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ: Eye of the Storm
2004Salmagundi Club, New York, NY: 2004 Art Exhibition Group Show

Publications and Press