The Alpha Workshops x Nancy Lorenz | Powerhouse Arts
Alpha Workshops celebrates its 30th anniversary with a limited edition set of Lorenz's dazzling works
Happy 30th anniversary to The Alpha Workshops! To commemorate their pearl anniversary, the renowned decorative arts studio is collaborating with Powerhouse Arts to showcase four stunning paintings by artist Nancy Lorenz.
Lorenz is a New York-based artist known for abstract paintings created with luxury materials such as silk, lacquer, and mother-of-pearl as well as silver and gold leaf.
Lorenz's Cieli e Terrra Nuova (Heavens and New Earth), on view in Powerhouse's aptly named Grand Hall, was originally exhibited at Rome’s Basilica di Santa Maria (known as The Church of the Artists) from April to June 2023.
The four towering pieces depicting nature, the elements, and the stars, are composed of gold leaf and paint on expansive swathes of burlap. Originally created for the 17th-century Baroque church, the works translate easily in Powerhouse’s vast, industrial space, expressively responding to the changing sunlight and graffiti-covered walls—in a communion of the sacred and the urban, according to Kenji Troelstrup, a representative for The Alpha Workshops. Lorenz’s use of a humble material like burlap in these works is a nod to the Arte Povera movement, which she became interested in while studying in Italy.
Lorenz received her BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Michigan and earned her MFA in painting from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Rome. Her grand, gilded works are a heavenly match for the decorative artists at The Alpha Workshops.
The Alpha Workshops team is producing small-scale replicas of Lorenz's paintings currently on view. The limited edition sets include meticulously hand-made reproductions of Lorenz's four works, featuring laser cut burlap details and gilding.
The Alpha Workshops is a non-profit decorative arts studio that trains and employs people with disabilities in art fabrication and the production of handmade wallpapers, textiles, and lighting. Founded on February 14, 1995 in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, the award-winning studio was modeled after the Bauhaus in Germany, Omega Workshops in England, and the Arts and Crafts Movement in America. After 29 years in Manhattan, The Alpha Workshops moved to Powerhouse Arts in Gowanus in April 2024.
Don’t miss this creative collaboration that celebrates both Lorenz’s sumptuous paintings and The Alpha Workshops 30th anniversary. Cieli e Terrra Nuova is open to the public all weekend and by appointment next week.
Exhibition On View:
Fri, Feb 14, 11am-7pm
Sat, Feb 15, 11am-6pm
Sun, Feb 16, 11am-6pm
By Appointment:
Tues, Feb 18
Wed, Feb 19
Thurs, Feb 20
Based in Gowanus in a formerly abandoned Brooklyn Rapid Transit power station—when it was known as The Batcave, a haven for squatters and street artists —the non-profit Powerhouse Arts is home to a network of artists, fabricators, and educators who collaborate and co-create. The organization offers art fabrication programs for ceramics, print, and public art and provides space for community events.
Powerhouse Arts
322 3rd Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn
Learn more at powerhousearts.org.