Art Forms evolves under new owner, new name
Charlotte Scherer hands baton to Emily Asher Neiman
BY LINDA DeNICOLA Correspondent
While not exactly throwing out the old, there is a new owner at the Art Forms Gallery on Monmouth Street in Red Bank. She has renamed the storefront space the Asher Neiman Gallery but has retained a number of the artists, including the artist Charlotte Scherer,who is her future stepmother and the former owner of the gallery space that held sway on the north side of the street for two decades.

Emily Asher Neiman is going off in a new direction as she takes the reins of a Red Bank art gallery from its founder and gives it her imprint. Inset top: Wrap bracelet by Elena Berg; Bottom: "She Considered It While Walking," bronze sculpture by Gina Novenstern.

"I was the co-director for Art Forms/Charlotte Scherer from August until her closing on January 5th. I am now a new gallery owner in the same space, using a handful of Charlotte's artists and of course using her as a mentor in this wild, lifelong, sole-proprietor pursuit," EmilyAsher Neiman said.

Neiman, who grew up in St. Louis, Mo., and comes froman artistic family, is a musician, writer and actor who now lives onBroad Street inRedBank. This is a totally new direction for the 28-yearold.

While working for Scherer, Neiman met and fell in love with Web designer Simon Abramson, who had created the Web site for Art Forms. According to Neiman, he has been an enormous help in getting her gallery up and running, from startup capital to the implementation of designs for everything from her business cards to letterhead, opening postcard and theWeb site.

"He is technically savvy beyond my wildest dreams, so my slide show and phone lines and stereo and a million other things work fluidly because of him - not to mention how his temperament quells my fiery anxiety. And best of all, he's a Jersey boy," she said.

Abramson grew up inWarren and for the past four years lived in upstate New York. But, saysNeiman, he sacrificed his love of the woods to be close to her and to be totally involved in getting the gallery up and running.

"He's falling in lovewith the business, too, and he thinks Red Bank is special," she said.

The gallery at 16 Monmouth St. officially opened on March 1 with a gala event that included food,wine andmusic. The evening featured live jazz, a group of artists, and a special retrospective photo exhibit that correlated with a local radio station, so that people driving by in their cars during the gallery's closing hours were able to listen as they watched the images projected on the gallery's blank back wall, Neiman said.

Besides featuring the work of painter Charlotte Scherer, she will display the works of painters Christie Scheele, Jenny Nelson and Amy Cohen Banker; photographers George Tice and Vincent Serbin; sculptor Gina Novenstern, and jewelers Serena Kojimoto and Elena Berg.

"My gallery will be eclectic but definitely contemporary, and most notably, featureworld art.My next artist opening will likely be an Argentinean artist. Bringing foreign cultural expression to Red Bank and beyond is a very integral part of my vision," she said.

She noted Scherer has been amentor.

"Charlotte has been an enormous inspiration and aid. She owned successful art galleries for nearly 40 years collectively. She is brilliant with people, extremely intuitive and has a fabulous eye. She also can giveme insight into the taste and interests of Red Bankians and just Jersey folk in general, since she herself is a 'Jersey broad.' "

Neiman has not been living on the East Coast of the United States for very long. She moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., fromVenice Beach/LosAngeles, Calif., in August. Through Scherer, she visited Red Bank and fell in love with what she calls Red Bank's quaintness and authenticity, as well as her future stepmother's gallery.

Neiman said she will continue to present the works of artists that Scherer brought in, but the gallery will also reflect her tastes, which have largely been cultivated from spending the past 10 years in various countries around the globe immersing herself in various cultures and learning five languages.

Neiman said she is not a visual artist herself, but she "is a sucker for beauty, especiallywhen it comes froman authentic source."

She explained that she began developing her appreciation for artistic expression

when she was 17 years old and

living on the Right Bank of Paris.

"At the most impressionable time

of one's life, I fell in love firsthandwith

the impressionists. Frequenting French museums became my education,"

Neiman said. "I went to Monet's home in Giverny and then, at the

Musée d'Orsay, observed his rendering

of what my own eyes saw. I felt

like I was catapulted back in time

to the period of Enlightenment."

She said that the experience completely altered her notion of what was possible. She developed a sense of wanderlust and lived in Italy, Ireland, China and Chile. She eliminated television fromher life and explored theworld, its people and the arts.

Neiman explained that she champions the eccentric and has an expansive vision for the gallery.

"I'm infatuated with people in all walks of life. And I believe artistic expression is the holiest of all human actions. My vision is to house art and to preserve the unique and authentic. I

want to disseminate beauty

and culture to any who are

curious, to bring an aesthetic

to people's homes

and to fill the gallerywalls

with spectacular examples of creative spirit in a range

of color and form."

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.Wednesday through

Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, and by appointment.

The gallery is closed

on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The work featured ranges

from bronze sculpture to oil on linen to silver gelatin photography.

To reach the gallery, call (732) 530-4003 or e-mail

info@asherneimangallery.com.

The gallery Web site is asherneimangallery.com.