From A Nation of Vision: Grand Prize winner Elizabeth Cohen, Orb; Jack Rosenberg, The Card Players; Lisa Brody, Snowy Fire Escape.
NEW CANAAN, CT, May 13, 2026—A Nation of Vision at Silvermine marks the 250th anniversary of the United States with an exhibition that spotlights the creative forces in American art. Juror Lee Findlay Potter describes the exhibition as a conversation across time with works that honor the past while “bringing together diverse styles, techniques, and perspectives that point toward the future of contemporary art.” A Nation of Vision, which features 35 artists across a variety of disciplines, will run through June 25. The public is invited to the opening reception on Sat., May 16, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Silvermine Galleries.
Each work in the exhibition engages with one of three themes: Early Visions (1776 to 1900), Modern Shifts (1900 to 1980), and Current Perspectives (1980 to the present). Grand Prize winner Elizabeth Cohen writes, “organic forms in nature, including flowers, fruits, seeds, shells, and plants, inspire me to interpret abstractly.” Her work is a counterpoint to our increasingly technological and chaotic world. Lisa Brody considers “the long history of artists painting through windows” in her luminous New York views rendered in bold strokes of the paintbrush. “We are a nation of fragments,” says Jack Rosenberg, whose spellbinding scene brings a fresh use of color to the figurative tradition.
The processes and materials used by these artists are statements in themselves. Christine Aaron creates burnt drawings—thousands of holes in fragile skins of paper. Burning, in her words, destroys and sanctifies—and can create an archive of absence and presence. Rosalind Shaffer’s “Internal Spiral” lets the graceful asymmetrical elements of her ceramic work embody the challenge of trying to keep our balance in turbulent times. The artists have drawn inspiration from the ordinary and the overlooked—and have found myriad ways to celebrate this country and its founding values.
Juror Lee Findlay Potter is a New York–based art advisor with more than three decades of experience working with collectors, artists, galleries, and estates. She is the founder and president of Lee Findlay Art, an advisory practice specializing in building and refining private and corporate collections. Potter previously directed the David Findlay, Jr., Gallery in New York. She is part of the multi-generational Findlay family of gallerists, whose legacy in the American art market began in the late nineteenth century.
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