Lyrical. Monumental. Silent. Verbose. These are but a few unspoken thoughts that immediately played across my mind when I first saw Lyanne Malamed’s paintings. Her work is mesmerizing in its stylistic beauty- the way form, line and gold leaf interact and dance seemingly effortlessly against the canvas. Then there is her subject matter. The quiet, regal stature of the elderly female counterparts who reign over a realm that appears at first only theirs to enjoy. Yet, the paintings are hauntingly familiar. They speak volumes to those who, like me, are reminded that the passage of time forever links us to Lyanne’s figures and engages us in a conversation that is at once sacred and divine.
When the exhibit committee of the Somerset Art Association met to review slide submissions from artists seeking an exhibit in the Johnson Gallery, there was a pregnant pause when Lyanne’s work flashed across the screen. The decision to award Lyanne with a one-person show was at once immediate and undisputed. Since then, it has been a pleasure to work with Lyanne over the course of many months in the preparation of this exhibit. Special recognition goes to….Lyanne herself for sharing her vision and creative world so generously with the Somerset Art association.
Robyn Tromeur, Executive Director
Somerset Art Association
April 18-May 23, 2004
…“reminiscent of this era is Malamed’s use of gold leaf in the background, a painstaking procedure involving the application of real gold. In Medieval times, the precious gilded surface designated a otherworldly realm (where the sky is gold not blue), inaccessible to ordinary mortals. Because they occupy a setting which has been reserved traditionally for saints or the royalty in painting, Malamed’s figures are, by association, both pious and sovereign.
Malamed’s preoccupation with the roles of women in society coincides with feminist art, which has flourished since the 1970’s. By using the time-tested vocabulary of art history, Malamed is able to make original statements about elderly women, which sort out and break down old stereotypes. One eighteenth-century source on iconography , for example, declared that older women should personify longevity, drunkenness, avarice, melancholy, and envy in art. To be sure, Malamed’s women are not perfect- they find it difficult to give up material possessions, as they fondle jewelry in The Elders (1989), and belie their true feelings by wearing masks. However, as has been demonstrated, Malamed concentrates on the positive roles of mature women as spiritual, nurturing, and wise, which have not been as prevalent in the pictorial arts. By portraying her figures in Greek, Medieval, or Renaissance-inspired guises, Malamed creates work which is thus as much a part of the continuum of art as the women are of their own traditions. In other words, Malamed makes her beautifully crafted paintings look old-like women represented in them- giving the impression that these iconic beings, who belong to all of Western culture, are themselves ageless and eternal.”
Diane P. Fisher, Ph.D.
Art for the Ages: The Paintings and Drawings of Lyanne Malamed
March 2004
Radiance, mystery and a sense of the divine emanate from medieval and early Renaissance European religious paintings which blended humanity's frailties with flat, often distorted perspectives and the lavishly gilded backgrounds used to depict the heavenly realms. No stranger to these traditions, Lyanne Malamed revisits the gilded, ceremonial splendors of Byzantium but does some with a unique, modern sensibility. Utterly distinctive, Malamed's art uses a rich language of symbols and historical techniques to portray the wisdom, isolation , dignity and value of women, especially those with age and experience.
Regardless of the medium, Malamed enthralls the viewer, Her works are majestic and powerful visions which speak with authority to the universality of life's experiences. In her drawings, Malamed heightens powerful emotions by removing the distractions of color, texture and symbolism. At the same time, her paintings are so visually lavish, they leave the viewer mesmerized, breathless and haunted by their mystery and majesty.
Lyanne Malamed has charted new territory with her works, painting and drawing the world of older women with intensity and insight and , simultaneously, infusing them with her won eloquent, original and magical blend of the ancient and the moderns
by Dr. Lynn L. Siebert
The Arts Council of the Morris Area
Featured Artist: Lyanne Malamed from the Arts Council of the Morris Area
Lyanne Malamed’s new paintings are arresting and, when we engage them, intrusive with a classic presence. To conceive of depicting aged women is a daring leap at this moment of visual seduction as a common occurrence and a marketing desire.
We have no answer to the challenge of eyes set in iconic stillness; we are asked , perhaps to share a guilt in response to unsmiling lips, to witness rage…strength, though ebbing…secrets with shame.
These are works which command attention. Although painted without model they are drawn deeply from life; or better said, from lives. I remain astonished now as on the first night I saw them.
Ed Colker
Dean of Visual Arts, State University of New York, Purchase
Exhibition: Hunterdon Art Center,1982
Lyanne Malamed’s consistent dedication to the artistic exploration of the elderly figure has resulted in work of remarkable depth and integrity. Gradually she has added elements of mythical subject matter such as the bird and the horse, but no matter what the subject, her honesty as a painter touches the soul of the observer.
Toshiko Takaezu
Curator of Lyanne Malamed's Paintings, 2000
Hunterdon Museum of Art