Well-known painter Lance Balderson joins his daughter, Jody Balderson Wiker, a printmaker, and granddaughter, Maddelinde Wiker, a sculptor, at the Ocean City Arts Center Jan. 5 through Jan. 31.
The exhibit is named “Layers — Three Generations,” because the family of artists uses layers in producing paintings, prints and three-dimensional art.
“January 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the Ocean City Arts Center,” Executive Director Rosalyn Lifshin said. “We are so pleased to present an exhibit by such a talented family including Lance Balderson, who has been a member of the Ocean City Arts Center for decades. He and his daughter have won ‘Best of Show’ at the Boardwalk Art Show and have taught at the Arts Center.”
A “Meet the Artists” reception will be held, free and open to the public, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9. Light refreshments will be served.
Balderson, a native of suburban Philadelphia and a resident of Ocean View (Dennis Township), is known for his colorful abstract work.
Philadelphia philanthropist Gerald Lenfest purchased a painting for the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s permanent collection. Until it is included at the museum, the work hangs in Mr. Lenfest’s Philadelphia residence. Balderson’s paintings are also included in more than 10 other permanent collections including those of the Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia; Columbia University, School of Law, New York; Wesley College, Delaware; and more.
A graduate of Pennsylvania State University’s School of Architecture, Balderson has referenced his career as an architect using layers of color and simple shapes to create abstract art. More recently, Balderson has featured landscapes and other forms of nature in his acrylic paintings.
Jody Balderson Wiker is a resident of Medford Lakes and also a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking. Ms. Wiker creates collagraphs, which combine aspects of painting and collage in a process of building the plate using various techniques and materials.
Her work begins with a photograph she has taken, which is generally inspired by shapes in nature. From there, Jody looks at the positive and negative spaces as well as the weight of an edge to create her images.
“As a young person and having a father as an artist, I would often watch him teach, attended numerous art shows, and occasionally would help him prepare his paintings,” Wiker said. “I always knew I wanted to be an artist, and when I took a printmaking class in college, and started making collagraphs, I discovered my art medium”.
Maddelinde (Maddey) Wiker, the third generation to attend Pennsylvania State University, is a sophomore working toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture. Maddelinde uses many materials, often recyled, to influence her sculptures. She starts with a concept and allows the material to shape the ultimate outcome of each piece. Maddey grew up with the influence of her “pop-pop” attending arts shows and visiting art museums. She also attended classes at her mother’s art school, “The Art Studio.”
Balderson and daughter Jody both teach art. They have won numerous “Best of Show” awards throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Maryland. Maddelinde has won awards in New Jersey and at the Philadelphia Flower Show in the Youth Gardens Pressed Flowers Division.
For further information, call (609) 399-7628 or visit www.oceancityartscenter.org.
The Ocean City Arts Center, located at 1735 Simpson Avenue, is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
— News release from the Ocean City Arts Center
