“Characters: Scene II,” a Director’s Choice exhibition exploring the return of characters in contemporary arts, opens March 20 at Silvermine Galleries. A complementary exhibition, “Characters, Scene I,” is currently being presented at the Shore Institute of The Contemporary Arts in Long Branch, N.J., through April 26.

A second Director’s Choice exhibition opening March 20 at Silvermine is “Edward Hopper & John Marin’s New York,” works on paper from the collection of Theodore C. Rogers and the Hirschl & Adler Gallery of New York City. Both exhibitions are sponsored by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Two solo exhibitions also open that day – photography by John Arabolos, “Chaotic Symmetries: The Fabric of Life Series,” and a mixed media installation by Hazel Usher titled “Twice Removed.”

Avis Berman, author of the new book Edward Hopper’s New York, will give a slide talk, followed by a book signing, in Silvermine Galleries from 1 to 2 pm on March 20, after which a public reception will be conducted from 2 to 4 pm. All exhibitions continue through April 21.

“Characters, Scene I & II” feature works by internationally renowned and emerging artists who come from the worlds of fine art and illustration. The exhibition was organized by Silvermine Gallery director Helen Klisser During and curated by Helianthe Bourdeaux-Maurin, an independent French curator living in Manhattan.

Works in “Characters” present cultural, historical, stylistic and technical diversity from artists who span the globe, from America to Europe and Asia. Produced between 1980 and the present, the works include paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photography and videos. Artists represented include Robert Crumb, Philip Guston, Nina Levy, D. Dominick Lombardi, Tracey Moffatt, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Michael Rees, Julian Stark, Cindy Sherman, Shannon Plumb, Izima Kaoru and Joan Wheeler. An Easton, Conn., resident, Ms Wheeler is the only Silvermine Guild artist represented in this show.

The exhibition of works on paper by Edward Hopper and John Marin illustrates how two artist contemporaries responded in different ways to the visual and emotional dynamism of New York City in the first quarter of the Twentieth Century.

Marin’s early series of etchings and drawings celebrating the changing cityscape of lower Manhattan began in the year 1910, and stand among the most powerful examples of the modernist impulse in American art. Conversely, Hopper’s quiet and deliberate etchings, executed between 1915 and 1923, are created in a straightforward manner in rich blacks and brilliant whites. The exhibition also includes a complementary selection of photographs by major American photographers of the era, such as Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Walker Evans and Berenice Abbott.

Silvermine Galleries is at 1037 Silvermine Road. For information, 203-966-9700, ext 20, or silvermineart.org.