Gallery Hours:
 Thursday and Friday 10-6
 "First Friday" 10-8
 Saturday 10-5
 "Second Sunday" 12-4

Other Hours Available
by Appointment

Presenting

Local artists Mariko and Charles Swisher have been married and producing art for over 20 years. For the month of April, visitors to Isadore Gallery, 228 N. Prince Street in Lancaster, will be treated to a retrospective show of their work, “Mariko Swisher Ceramics and Charles Swisher Paintings – An Arc of 20 Years”.

Mariko Swisher’s present style is a synthesis of two early interests. As a young girl in Japan, she learned calligraphy and collected ceramics. She began studying and creating her own pottery after she married Charles and moved to the United States. Her early works that you will see were in the style of traditional Japanese wood-fired ceramics. Over time, she developed the intricately complex, geometric and calligraphic style she is known for today. Mariko’s work is best characterized by the dual relationship of the organic and calligraphic line of wild life forms in contrast with hard-edged geometric patterns.

Mariko’s work has won recognition from many exhibition jurors including the Chief Curator at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC, the Curator at the Textile Museum, Washington D.C., and the Senior Program Officer, Office of the Undersecretary for History, Art, and Culture of the Smithsonian Institute. Numerous awards include Best of Show/ First Place prizes at the Washington Craft Show, and the Saint Louis Art Fair. Her work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly Magazine, and American Style. Mariko’s ceramics has been collected by the Chairman of Raymond James Financial, the former president and founder of MBNA Bank America, and the president of The Republic of Tea, to name a few.

Charles Swisher will be exhibiting both landscapes and portraits. Regardless of his subject matter, he tries to objectively convey the shapes and colors that interest him. He seeks to stimulate the eye and mind with an economy of means. Art Historian and Critic N. F. Karlins wrote of his work: “Charles Swisher’s show of recent paintings …shows an artist stretching into new territory.” Critic Tom Knapp said: “His oils and acrylics …are well made with just the right touches of impasto…have a well-developed sense of color… are straightforward, clear and unaffected images which let the viewer fill in the blanks.”

After receiving his MFA from Parsons School of Design, Charles continued his art education in England, Austria, Japan, France, and Germany. Among numerous honors are residencies and fellowships at Chateau Rochefort-en-terre in Brittany, France, the Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus in Bavaria, Germany, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Vermont studio Center, and the Millay Colony. He received two Helena Rubenstein scholarships. Selected exhibitions include the Bowery Gallery and Synchronicity Space in NYC, and the Demuth Foundation and Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.

As an interesting aside, several of Charles Swisher’s drawings once hanging at Isadore Gallery were purchased for use in a James L. Brooks movie starring Jack Nicholson. The movie is not yet titled, but filming is complete and its expected release date is December 2010. We are looking forward to seeing the movie and will be on the alert for Charles Swisher’s artworks.