Collar Works is thrilled to present Northern Lights, celebrating the works of Berly Brown, Mark Joshua Epstein, Will Hutnick, and Esther Ruiz. Much like the bright, dancing lights of an aurora, created when electrically charged particles collide with the earth's atmosphere, the work in this exhibition meets head-on to create a surreal and vibrant visual experience. Seeking to highlight the drama and magic of light, shape and color, these four artists use unique materials and techniques in their abstract works, transforming the gallery into an electrifying display of neon light, reflective surfaces, vibrant palettes, and energetic mark-making in this site-dependent installation.

Berly Brown is an artist, space-lover, and self-seeker currently based in Upstate New York. Working primarily in painting, her work explores her relationship with the ineffable. Brown has shown her work at The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO; Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; the Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY; LABspace, Hillsdale, NY; The Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY; and Tugboat Gallery, Lincoln, NE. She earned her BFA from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and her MFA from the State University of New York at Albany.

Mark Joshua Epstein received his MFA from The Slade School of Fine Art in London and his BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Tufts University. Epstein's work has had solo exhibitions at Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY), Caustic Coastal (Manchester, UK), Vane Gallery (Newcastle, UK), Biquini Wax (Mexico City, Mexico) and Brian Morris Gallery (New York). Group shows include: Good Children Gallery (New Orleans, LA), Monaco Gallery (St Louis, MO), Leroy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University (New York, NY), Beverly's (New York, NY), and Hoffman Lachance (St Louis, MO). Epstein has been a resident at Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony, Macdowell Colony, Saltonstall Foundation, and the NARS Foundation, amongst others.

Will Hutnick is an artist and curator based in Wassaic, NY. He received his M.F.A. from Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY) and his B.A. from Providence College (Providence, RI). Hutnick’s work has been exhibited most recently at Standard Space (Sharon, CT, solo), St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, NY, solo) One River School (Hartsdale, NY, solo), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Brooklyn), LVL3 Gallery (Chicago, IL), Vox Populi (Philadelphia, PA), Geoffrey Young Gallery (Great Barrington, MA) and Pratt Institute. His work has been featured in New American Paintings, Art Maze Mag, and Maake Magazine, among others. Hutnick has curated numerous exhibitions at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Trestle Projects, Pratt Institute (New York and Brooklyn) and Hamiltonian Gallery (Washington, DC). He has been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo (Saratoga Springs, NY), the Hambidge Center (Rabun Gap, GA), Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency by Collar Works (Granville, NY), DNA Gallery (Provincetown, MA), Wassaic Project (Wassaic, NY), Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT) and a curator-in-residence at Benaco Arte (Sirmione, Italy) and Trestle Projects (Brooklyn). Hutnick is a 2017 Martha Boschen Porter Fund grant recipient from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation as well as a 2015 grant recipient from the Foundation for Contemporary Art. Hutnick is the Co-Director of Ortega y Gasset Projects, an artist-run curatorial collective and exhibition space in Brooklyn, and is currently the Director of Artistic Programming at the Wassaic Project, a nonprofit organization that uses art and art education to foster positive social change.

Esther Ruiz was born in Houston, Texas, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art from Rhodes College in 2011. She has shown nationally and internationally at various galleries including solo exhibitions at The Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Oregon, Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, yours mine & ours in New York, New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Platform Baltimore. She has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions including Deslave, LVL3, Jacob’s LA, New Release Gallery, and Hollis Taggart. She has been featured in The Washington Post, Art News Magazine, Art F City and VICE. She was also a visiting lecturer at School of Visual Arts, New York, New York, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Santa Barbra City College among others.