Fascinated By Color
Helen Iranyi

Fascinated by Color is a solo exhibition by NYC-based artist Helen Iranyi. The fundamental feature in Iranyi’s work is color. She expresses light and form by overlapping and twirling layers of paint. The show displays 22 of her acrylic paintings that explore the elements in 20 of her accompanying mixed-media prints.

Helen Iranyi explains:

“In 1981, when one definition of a cell was a small room where a monk slept, I took a class in computer graphics. The first time I sat in front of a gigantic computer, I was so scared my hands froze. But once I calmed down and started using the provided tablet, I was amazed. Entranced with the possibilities, I was hooked. The effects weren’t painterly, and they didn’t have the scratchy voluminous look of a drawing. The computer was a tool that produced a look all its own. Because computers were so new in the field of art, constricting rules didn’t exist. When I made a decision about what color or stroke to use, I was using a new language to create a picture. It was dazzling! The idea of painting with light was surreal and mystical. As an artist, I was able to let my creative imagination soar, and the remarkable feats of engineering opened up an enchanting world. (Everyone else was sensibly focused on how to create weather maps!) The opportunity to create has always been a great joy to me. I am fascinated by color, and have loved to paint as long as I can remember. The digital images I designed have influenced my painting. So this exhibit displays both my art in the two mediums and illustrates how they interlock.”

About the Artist

Helen Iranyi was born in 1937. As a teenager, she attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She received a B.S. in Computer Science at the N.Y. Institute of Technology/SUNY (NY) in 1990.

Commenting on her “exploitation of sheer, luminous color,” The New York Times reported, “Helen Iranyi… shows a distinct gift… She is at her strongest in pictures that adhere to brilliant colors with their brilliance unveiled by elaborate overlays of pigment.” The main element in Iranyi’s work is color. By overlapping, turning and twisting layers of paint, she aspires to express light and form. Her colors speak eloquently for themselves and are, as Arts Magazine has commented, “original. . . and quite lovely.”

Highlights of Helen Iranyi’s career include her participation in numerous solo and group exhibitions including Pittsburgh Corporations Collect at the Heinz Galleries at the Carnegie Institute. She has been represented by the Carter Burden Gallery (New York City), Kingpitcher Gallery (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), MJS International (Fort Worth, Texas), Gallery Reese Paley (New Jersey), West Broadway Gallery, Barney Weinger Gallery, and the Multi Media Arts Gallery, (New York City.). Her works are in numerous private and corporate collections. Iranyi is also a published author and you can read more about her publications on Amazon. Her artist files are included in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries Collection, Yale University Library collection, the Museum of Modern Art DADABASE, and in the Artist Files at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives in New York. Her personal letters are included in Columbia University Library collection.

For more information on Helen follow her on Instagram.