Past Exhibition: Mike Howat
|
Bernier RoomJames W. Foley Memorial Community Center, formerly Rochester Community Center. 150 Wakefield Street, Rochester, NH 03867 (Suite 135)
The Mayor Harvey E. Bernier Room features temporary art exhibits by emerging and seasoned artists on a monthly basis. The gallery showcases a wide range of original work - from painting and sculpture to works on paper and photography. The gallery is named for former Rochester Mayor Harvey E. Bernier. For tirelessly supporting arts and cultural programming and volunteerism during his tenure. Receptions are held from 6-8pm on the second Thursday of every month. |
jim banks / November 2021
Reception: Thursday, November 11 (6-8pm)
"In 2009, I began Planters Project. The concept was to fill planters with “wild” dirt – dirt taken from neglected/disturbed areas around my studio in Medford, MA, then see what grows.
I struggled with the whole “Is this art?” question, so I put some token sculptural element in the planters with the notion that said element would be engulfed and eventually obscured by the growth. I suppose it has to do with the ol’ Man vs. Nature thing, that totally tedious discussion ranging from Eden to Apocalypse, and we’ve all heard it before. It became something quite different."
"In 2009, I began Planters Project. The concept was to fill planters with “wild” dirt – dirt taken from neglected/disturbed areas around my studio in Medford, MA, then see what grows.
I struggled with the whole “Is this art?” question, so I put some token sculptural element in the planters with the notion that said element would be engulfed and eventually obscured by the growth. I suppose it has to do with the ol’ Man vs. Nature thing, that totally tedious discussion ranging from Eden to Apocalypse, and we’ve all heard it before. It became something quite different."
Windows Foot
|
Iced
|
"What poured out of the dirt over the next several months amazed me. Not just the growth of X, but the growth and death of X, then the growth of Y taking its place. What began as the pursuit of one idea - to see how the weeds would obscure our monuments - became how the landscape within the planter itself changed throughout the season. If one purpose of Art is to abstract from Life details that draw attention to things often overlooked, then the changing nature of Nature is the real subject of Planters Project.
Over the next several years, the shapes and sizes of my planters changed from small garden planters to larger installations built into the earth itself.
When I began the write-up of the first season in 2009, I realized I did not know the names of any of the weeds except the dandelion. That seemed immoral, so since 2009, I've been obsessed with identifying every weed I see. One of the first I identified was a sow thistle growing from a crack in the sidewalk in front of my studio. I was so taken by the leaf structure, that I made a few drawings, then painted it."
Over the next several years, the shapes and sizes of my planters changed from small garden planters to larger installations built into the earth itself.
When I began the write-up of the first season in 2009, I realized I did not know the names of any of the weeds except the dandelion. That seemed immoral, so since 2009, I've been obsessed with identifying every weed I see. One of the first I identified was a sow thistle growing from a crack in the sidewalk in front of my studio. I was so taken by the leaf structure, that I made a few drawings, then painted it."
Dubius Garden
"As I reviewed the photos I’d taken of weeds, I noticed that many took on elements of my college studies in Abstract Expressionism, namely, the all-over image pressed up flat against the picture plane. I called these “Footscapes” because they are what you see when you look down in front of your feet. That angle, devoid of horizon, was an interesting way to approach the structure of landscape. And of course I have violated the “flatness” by attempting to reveal the spacial passages from bud to dirt.
As I continued to study weeds, they challenged me to reveal their details. I found that in early Spring, some flowers can be seen only from your knees. It is this quality of seeing more as you look more that I want to infuse into my paintings."
Jim received his B.A. in Fine Art from Bard College. He has shown in Honolulu, San Antonio, Memphis, and in the Boston area. He is represented by Fountain Street Fine Arts in Boston. Visit www.jimbanksartist.com to learn more.
As I continued to study weeds, they challenged me to reveal their details. I found that in early Spring, some flowers can be seen only from your knees. It is this quality of seeing more as you look more that I want to infuse into my paintings."
Jim received his B.A. in Fine Art from Bard College. He has shown in Honolulu, San Antonio, Memphis, and in the Boston area. He is represented by Fountain Street Fine Arts in Boston. Visit www.jimbanksartist.com to learn more.
|
|
|
STEVEN CABRAL / October 2021
Reception: Thursday, October 7 (6-8pm)
Steven Cabral is a Boston-based painter and has shown his work in several group exhibitions in the greater Boston area. He is a member of the Vernon Street artists’ community in Somerville, as well as an Associate member at Kingston Gallery. Steven holds a BFA in painting from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and currently working on his MFA in painting at Lesley University of Art and Design. He currently lives and works in Somerville.
Steven Cabral is a Boston-based painter and has shown his work in several group exhibitions in the greater Boston area. He is a member of the Vernon Street artists’ community in Somerville, as well as an Associate member at Kingston Gallery. Steven holds a BFA in painting from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and currently working on his MFA in painting at Lesley University of Art and Design. He currently lives and works in Somerville.
|
|
"My paintings investigate the psychology of painting through an exploration of patterns, hard edges, soft edges, geometric and organic shapes, and color experimentation to form new meanings and narrations. The awareness of inner dialogue has strengthened my working process, allowing for a chain reaction of thoughts and ideas focused on mark-making to form the composition. This listening process clarifies painterly space, including the risks I need to take to break the visual grammar by using thin and thick paint, shapes, and colors. The elements explore how light and dark creates a sense of mystery, mysticism, depth, and risk. I explore and layer a new palette of contemporary hues, and allow my past geometric abstractions to take on more flowing, painterly, and undefined shapes. Combining the freehand production of geometric shapes of squares, circles, triangles, and lines with undefinable biomorphic shapes has led me to a more focused desire to construct an aesthetic that creates challenging and unconventional viewing experiences for the viewers."
Edgar (Teddy) Paredes / August 2021
Reception: Thursday, August 12 (6-8pm
|
Photo by Emmanuel Hernandez
|
Edgar (Teddy) Paredes is a Dominican American mixed media artist living and working in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Paredes is inspired by the works of Picasso, Basquiat, and Dalí. He has previously exhibited in a variety of venues including the Currier Museum of Art and Argh Gallery in Manchester, NH, respectively. Follow @shwavybabyart on instagram to learn more.
Jason Bombaci / July 2021
Reception: Thursday, July 8 (6-8pm)
A native of Concord, NH, Jason Bombaci spent his youth exploring New Hampshire’s mountains, rivers and rocky streams. His interest in the study of art was sparked at a very young age. Bombaci began a private study of art at age nine in Marblehead, MA and by high school was studying under Estelle Smith in Manchester, NH. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program and received a Masters of Fine Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He has also studied landscape painting and art history in Italy through the University of New Hampshire in Italy program. Bombaci, 38, died of cancer on November 28, 2020, at his home in Rochester NH.
A native of Concord, NH, Jason Bombaci spent his youth exploring New Hampshire’s mountains, rivers and rocky streams. His interest in the study of art was sparked at a very young age. Bombaci began a private study of art at age nine in Marblehead, MA and by high school was studying under Estelle Smith in Manchester, NH. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program and received a Masters of Fine Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He has also studied landscape painting and art history in Italy through the University of New Hampshire in Italy program. Bombaci, 38, died of cancer on November 28, 2020, at his home in Rochester NH.
|
|
An avid kayaker and fisherman, Bombaci spent a lot of time on the water and these activities seem to recur as a theme in some of his work. When asked if people ever misinterpret his work, he replied, “I paint what I paint and let viewers make what they will of it."
Viewers may recognize many local scenes from his collection of thickly-layered canvases which use a broad palette of colors to capture the play of light so handily. “I have been concentrating mostly on the landscape as a context to further explore my painting experience. I work mostly en plein air around Great Bay and the Seacoast.” Bombaci said he liked to “build an image abstractly, focusing on mixing and laying down marks of pure color.” As the colors come together and meet, an image starts to emerge. This way of working builds what he calls “an active surface” which he would work over repeatedly before arriving at the final image.
Viewers may recognize many local scenes from his collection of thickly-layered canvases which use a broad palette of colors to capture the play of light so handily. “I have been concentrating mostly on the landscape as a context to further explore my painting experience. I work mostly en plein air around Great Bay and the Seacoast.” Bombaci said he liked to “build an image abstractly, focusing on mixing and laying down marks of pure color.” As the colors come together and meet, an image starts to emerge. This way of working builds what he calls “an active surface” which he would work over repeatedly before arriving at the final image.
women's caucus for art, NH / June 2021
Reception: Thursday, June 10 (6-8pm)
WCA/NH is the New Hampshire Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art. We are part of a national organization that promotes the advancement of women in the visual arts through educational programs, networking and exhibition opportunities. The New Hampshire Chapter is a thriving organization with about 100 members. WCA/NH offers several exhibitions a year, bi-annual members’ meetings and more.
WCA/NH is the New Hampshire Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art. We are part of a national organization that promotes the advancement of women in the visual arts through educational programs, networking and exhibition opportunities. The New Hampshire Chapter is a thriving organization with about 100 members. WCA/NH offers several exhibitions a year, bi-annual members’ meetings and more.
Lucy Mueller, Autumn
|
BJ Eckardt, Wayfaring Ferns
|
Membership in the WCA/NH is open to all artists, from student to seasoned professional. WCA/NH offers a rich variety of juried and non-juried exhibition opportunities to our members. WCA/NH members include painters, sculptors, ceramicists, mixed-media artists, photographers, fiber artists, stained glass artists, video and digital artists, printmakers, jewelers and bead artists … the list is endless!
BRIAN Keith Stephens / May 2021
Reception: Thursday, May 6 (6-8pm)
Brian Keith Stephens studied at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in Connecticut. Since 2000, his work has been featured in a variety of venues such as Hugo Gallerie NYC, M Fine Arts Boston & Palm Beach, Punto Sull'Arte Milan, Sirona Fine Arts Miami, and many more. He currently lives and works in Connecticut. Visit www.briankeithstephens.com to learn more.
Brian Keith Stephens studied at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in Connecticut. Since 2000, his work has been featured in a variety of venues such as Hugo Gallerie NYC, M Fine Arts Boston & Palm Beach, Punto Sull'Arte Milan, Sirona Fine Arts Miami, and many more. He currently lives and works in Connecticut. Visit www.briankeithstephens.com to learn more.
|
|
“How to capture the past, present and future at the same time; this is at the center of my work as an artist and as a father, son, friend, and lover. As we navigating our daily lives, we must face thoughts, anxieties, joys and emotions from all three of these tenses, and often at the same time. Seemingly opposite emotions — lust, hatred, desire, love, pride, inhibition — exists simultaneously between these moments in time. For some of us, some emotions out weigh others, grabbing our attention and transfixing our minds, sometimes taking over the way we live and breath. For myself, the emotions that occupy my mind and capture my energy are that of love, desire, and the fear of hurt or disappointment. And so, at the center of my work are these forceful emotions–they guide my hand to paint and my heart and mind to live. My work explores the emotions that guide us, that pull us and push us and ultimately define who we are, in relation to others and to ourselves."
|
|
"Lately, what I have been most interested in capturing is how alternative perceptions of ones identity can change the effect these daily emotions. My work speaks to this in two mediums: oil pantings and collage/installation. With the first medium, I do this primarily through mystical imagery juxtaposed with figurative technique. I am using oil paints to create this mystical alter-reality where the human is the animal and the animal is the human.”
Shyla Hazen / Contrary / May 2021
Reception: Thursday, May 6 (6-8pm)
Shyla Hazen is a New Hampshire-based artist who works in paper, printmaking, and origami. Hazen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019 from the New Hampshire Institute of Art and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree.
Shyla Hazen is a New Hampshire-based artist who works in paper, printmaking, and origami. Hazen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019 from the New Hampshire Institute of Art and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree.
Shyla Hazen, 'Mushroom, Dahlia, Poppy, Lily, and Daffodil' from the Contrary series, 2021, crepe paper
|
Shyla Hazen, 'Lady Slippers' from the Contrary series, 2021, crepe paper
|
Since graduating, she has continued to learn the art of paper floristry. For this special installation, Hazen creates a New England-inspired garden, filling the exhibition with expertly crafted native flowers and plants including hollyhocks, hostas, buttercups, and poppies. As a nod to New England gardeners like her mother and sister, Hazen’s work makes permanent the fleeting spring season and lush flora.
Hazen has exhibited at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and the Derryfield School. Her work is influenced by Edward Hopper, Charles Burchfield, Oscar Blumner, Georgia O’Keefe, and Faith Ringgold. She is currently a practicing hairstylist in Concord, NH and lives in Allenstown, NH with her two adult children, two grandchildren, two dogs, and an angry cat. Learn more here.
Hazen has exhibited at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and the Derryfield School. Her work is influenced by Edward Hopper, Charles Burchfield, Oscar Blumner, Georgia O’Keefe, and Faith Ringgold. She is currently a practicing hairstylist in Concord, NH and lives in Allenstown, NH with her two adult children, two grandchildren, two dogs, and an angry cat. Learn more here.
Kimberly Meuse / April 2021
Kimberly is self-taught in her style of watercolor painting, after an introductory course in college where she studied Graphic Design opened the door to the wonders and challenges of the medium. The graphic design world focuses on simplifying messages, while Kimberly's eye consistently sought the finer points and sumptuous detail. After a decade of working in corporate design, she followed her heart to fine art and watercolor.
|
|
Taking watercolor painting from a generally loose methodology to create works that defy the confines of representational painting, she has surmounted the challenges inherent in water-based media to create exquisitely deep, rich paintings that have become a career-long passion.
"There is something calming, tranquil, absorbing about still life. The eye pours over the textures and lines, absorbs every nuance of hues and values, distinguishes the interplay of shadow versus light over the surface of a petal. Still life draws you in. It forces you to step forward and drink it all in. Details so fine that the trick is to determine if it's a photograph - and if not, how is it watercolor?"
"There is something calming, tranquil, absorbing about still life. The eye pours over the textures and lines, absorbs every nuance of hues and values, distinguishes the interplay of shadow versus light over the surface of a petal. Still life draws you in. It forces you to step forward and drink it all in. Details so fine that the trick is to determine if it's a photograph - and if not, how is it watercolor?"
DOUGLAS BREAULT / March 2021
Breault’s photographs still life arrangements that retreat to memories of his late father; testing time through documenting ephemeral elements like camera obscura projections, printed archival images, shadows, dying flowers, and objects owned by his father.
Breault freely misapplies traditional artistic methods of painting, photography, and sculpture by misaligning materials and connecting collected fragments. Materiality is essential to develop his ideas, subordinating form to process. The series, Sleepwalking, enlists obliterated images downloaded and printed from the internet, traditional techniques like camera obscuras or pinhole cameras, and incorporates banal objects to build connections between narrative and memory. The process entangles a digital excavation combined with the sculptural element of altered objects and images. Strategies of mimicry and abstraction bring into question truth and transformation. These accumulations coalesce objects, images, and narrative into physical space.
Breault freely misapplies traditional artistic methods of painting, photography, and sculpture by misaligning materials and connecting collected fragments. Materiality is essential to develop his ideas, subordinating form to process. The series, Sleepwalking, enlists obliterated images downloaded and printed from the internet, traditional techniques like camera obscuras or pinhole cameras, and incorporates banal objects to build connections between narrative and memory. The process entangles a digital excavation combined with the sculptural element of altered objects and images. Strategies of mimicry and abstraction bring into question truth and transformation. These accumulations coalesce objects, images, and narrative into physical space.
|
|
Douglas Breault works as an interdisciplinary artist, frequently overlapping elements from photography, painting, sculpture, and video. He received his MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in 2017, and he currently divides his time between Boston and Providence. His work has been included in exhibitions and screenings at various institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Bristol Art Museum, the Stone Gallery at Boston University, and the Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn.. He currently teaches art at Bridgewater State University, Holyoke Community College, RISD Continuing Education, and is the Exhibitions Manager at Gallery 263 in Cambridge, MA.
JAMES MULLEN / February 2021
Born and raised in the rural environment of western New Jersey, James Mullen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Sculpture and Printmaking from the University of New Hampshire in 1985. In 1986 he participated in the LaNapoule Summer Art Program, then completed his Master of Fine Arts in Painting at Indiana University in 1991. He has taught at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, the University of Evansville in Indiana, and since 1999 has taught at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art. Mullen has received numerous awards and scholarships including an Individual Artist Grant from the state of Georgia as well as Research Grants from both the University of Evansville and Bowdoin College.
Ravens Nest, Oil on Canvas
|
Blue Hill Bay, Oil on Canvas
|
He has had over twenty solo exhibitions at venues including the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in Augusta, GA, The Chattahoochie Valley Art Museum in LaGrange, GA, Artemisia Gallery in Chicago, IL , The Maine Center for Contemporary Art in Rockport, ME, and at Providence College in Rhode Island. He has also had several solo exhibitions at the Ruschman Art Gallery in Indianapolis, IN and at Sherry French Gallery in New York City. He has also been awarded residencies at the Spring Island Artist in Residence program in South Carolina, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, IL. In 2010 he was selected for an Artist Residency at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and in 2015 was awarded a residency at Hewnoaks Artsist Colony. In 2015 he was awarded a Puffin Foundation Grant for the Pilgrimage Project. Recent solo exhibitions have included Phoenix Gallery in New York City, New England College in Henniker, NH, University of Southern New Hampshire, and the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME.
Rowley, Oil on Canvas
Sapphire Pool, Oil on Canvas
"My work is centered on painting the landscape, often based on photographs I have made on site. This is a continuation of a body of work that I have been building over the last two decades dealing with the depictions of the environment.
Recently I have refined the focus of that investigation to examine iconic sites belonging to the lexicon of the 19th century American landscape. These sites include locations like Kaaterskill Falls, Mount Desert Island, and the White Mountains. During this investigation I have expanded my focus to also include other destination landscapes, most notably works of the late 20th century Land Art movement. All of these sites have been understood primarily through reliance upon mechanical reproduction, whether through the dissemination of engravings in portfolios and publications in the 19th century, or in the 20th century through photography. This new body of work seeks to visit a number of these sites, and treat them as primary documents to research and develop. I see many of these sites as iconic condensers of memory, and I am interested in redefining them through works created from primary observation at those locations. This project pushes back against the proliferation of digital images that bombard us every day, converting “place” into a veneer.
I spend extended time at these sites in an effort to engage them in a more mindful manner. In doing this, I hope to create work that can help remind the viewer of the value of a more thoughtful engagement with the environment, and the importance of that connection."
Recently I have refined the focus of that investigation to examine iconic sites belonging to the lexicon of the 19th century American landscape. These sites include locations like Kaaterskill Falls, Mount Desert Island, and the White Mountains. During this investigation I have expanded my focus to also include other destination landscapes, most notably works of the late 20th century Land Art movement. All of these sites have been understood primarily through reliance upon mechanical reproduction, whether through the dissemination of engravings in portfolios and publications in the 19th century, or in the 20th century through photography. This new body of work seeks to visit a number of these sites, and treat them as primary documents to research and develop. I see many of these sites as iconic condensers of memory, and I am interested in redefining them through works created from primary observation at those locations. This project pushes back against the proliferation of digital images that bombard us every day, converting “place” into a veneer.
I spend extended time at these sites in an effort to engage them in a more mindful manner. In doing this, I hope to create work that can help remind the viewer of the value of a more thoughtful engagement with the environment, and the importance of that connection."
Kevin Kintner / January 2021
Kintner received a BFA from Buffalo State College in 1981 and completed his MFA at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1984. For more than 40 years he's continued to produce art and exhibit his works throughout the United States and Canada. For 18 months he owned and operated ARGH Gallery (Manchester, NH) and he is also a member of the City of Manchester Arts Commission.
|
|
"Since this horrible pandemic shuttered people back in March I've been painting. The world had become full of anxiety and fear and my first instinct was to paint those stressed-out emotions on canvas. In my mind, in the news, in the world out there everything seemed bleak, heavy, dark. but it turned out what I needed to paint was escape. I wanted bright color and energetic light and joyous movement and something alive. These are some of the paintings from this year. I guess they are floral themed though no actual flower species is directly reproduced. I see them as garden paintings or landscapes or space-scapes but ultimately escapes. I hope others enjoy them, too."
joe carton / December 2020
Born in 1970, Joe Carton is a New Hampshire-based painter and printmaker. His work has been exhibited widely throughout greater New England. Joe received his BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 1992. He currently lives and works in New Hampshire.
|
|
His work incorporates imagery related to luck, enlightenment, man’s ruin, the fool’s journey, and other contemporary themes. An important component of Joe’s work is the use of images pulled from popular culture. These images, whether subtle or blatant, serve as reminders of society’s impact on an individual.
ROBERT MOTHERWELL / TBA
Robert Motherwell, one of the earliest proponents of the Abstract Expressionist movement, rose to critical acclaim with his first solo exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery in 1944.
Not only was Motherwell one of the major practicing Abstract Expressionist artists, he was, in fact, the main intellectual driving force within the movement—corralling fellow New York painters such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffman and William Baziotes into his circle. He also taught Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg at the famed Black Mountain College.
Motherwell later coined the term the "New York School", a designation synonymous to Abstract Expressionism that loosely refers to a wide variety of non-objective work produced in New York between 1940 and 1960.
Not only was Motherwell one of the major practicing Abstract Expressionist artists, he was, in fact, the main intellectual driving force within the movement—corralling fellow New York painters such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffman and William Baziotes into his circle. He also taught Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg at the famed Black Mountain College.
Motherwell later coined the term the "New York School", a designation synonymous to Abstract Expressionism that loosely refers to a wide variety of non-objective work produced in New York between 1940 and 1960.
Detail
|
Redness of Red (1985)
|
He met the painter Helen Frankenthaler in 1957, whom he married three years later. During their 13 year marriage, the two artists’ mutual interest in the poetry of abstraction fueled one another’s work.
During an over five-decade-long career, Motherwell created a large and powerful body of varied work that includes paintings, drawings, prints and collages. Motherwell's work is most generally characterized by simple shapes, broad color contrasts and a dynamic interplay between restrained and gestural brushstrokes. Above all, it demonstrates his approach to art-making as a response to the complexity of lived, and importantly felt, experience.
Motherwell died on July 16, 1991 at his summer residence in Provincetown, MA. Today, his works are in the collections of most contemporary art museums around the world including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Tate Modern in London.
The piece that will be on display is called Redness of Red (1985) a lithograph and screenprint with collage on Arches Cover paper, initialed in pencil and numbered. The piece is on loan from the personal collection of his daughter, artist Jeannie Motherwell.
During an over five-decade-long career, Motherwell created a large and powerful body of varied work that includes paintings, drawings, prints and collages. Motherwell's work is most generally characterized by simple shapes, broad color contrasts and a dynamic interplay between restrained and gestural brushstrokes. Above all, it demonstrates his approach to art-making as a response to the complexity of lived, and importantly felt, experience.
Motherwell died on July 16, 1991 at his summer residence in Provincetown, MA. Today, his works are in the collections of most contemporary art museums around the world including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Tate Modern in London.
The piece that will be on display is called Redness of Red (1985) a lithograph and screenprint with collage on Arches Cover paper, initialed in pencil and numbered. The piece is on loan from the personal collection of his daughter, artist Jeannie Motherwell.
SUSAN SCHWAKE / February 13 - March 6, 2020
Susan Schwake is an artist, art educator, and best selling author. In her artwork, she is inspired most by the natural world and the changes it goes through – both inherent and external forces. She often abstracts these interactions through simplification, distortion, heightened or changed color and viewpoint. She works with ink, acrylic, watercolor, gouache and paper on paper, panel and canvas. Her work has been exhibited on the East Coast of the US, Mexico and Europe.
|
|
Susan is also an owner and art teacher at Artstream Studios in Rollinsford NH. Her students, both children and adult have inspired her endlessly for the past 25 years. She has written six books about making art with children to date, with a seventh one being published early next year. She paints and draws most every day. Learn more at www.susanschwake.com.
Liese Gauthier / December 7 - January 31, 2020
Liese Gauthier creates mixed-media abstract work in Tuftonboro, New Hampshire. Her work combines painting, collage and mark-making in energetic, joyful and expressive work. Liese was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1974. She graduated from Colorado College in 1996, and the University of New Hampshire with a Masters of Teaching in 1998.
|
|
"I work to convey joy, energy, and freedom in my work. I paint abstract art because I like to find new ways of creating. I like to scribble with pencils and scrape into layers of wet paint with a screwdriver. Through painting, I need to constantly challenge myself and come up with new ideas and methods. It is a joy and challenge to create something that has never been made before.
Each painting is a series of decisions: what colors to use, how to vary the value, shape, and size of elements. I work in many layers to build interest and history in the work. Collage adds structure and then I paint over the paper to add interest. Decisions teach me what to keep and what to change -- and so I learn and grow as an artist."
Each painting is a series of decisions: what colors to use, how to vary the value, shape, and size of elements. I work in many layers to build interest and history in the work. Collage adds structure and then I paint over the paper to add interest. Decisions teach me what to keep and what to change -- and so I learn and grow as an artist."
|
|
"I believe that my work is best when I make the mental shift into exploration and play supported with a scaffolding of theory and technique. Letting go of expectations and creating layers enables surprises to happen in the piece. Then, on the next layer I begin by examining the elements in the piece- how the eye moves around the painting, where value shifts occur, what variety there is in shapes. Then I shift back into paint/play mode and the process continues.
I love how painting challenges me to think and create, and I hope that my work provides a glimpse into this process."
I love how painting challenges me to think and create, and I hope that my work provides a glimpse into this process."
Mike Howat / September 14 - November 30, 2019
Mike Howat is a painter working out of Concord, NH. Howat earned his B.F.A. with a painting concentration from New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2014. Since graduating, Howat has been actively engaged in the growing New England art scene and shows regularly with Kelley Stelling Contemporary, Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden and other galleries in the region. His work explores themes of Americana, urbanization, and memory. He focuses on painting, but works routinely with large-scale graphite drawing, monotype printmaking and etching.
|
|
Since 2017, Howat has been the long-term artist-in-residence at Kimball Jenkins where he teaches classes and workshops, serves on the Arts Committee, and has a studio in the historic estate of the art school. In 2018, he curated Figuratively Speaking, an abstract painting and printmaking exhibition with regionally established and emerging artists, and has plans for future curatorial projects for 2019 in collaboration with an upcoming Boston-based art publication.
Tom Glover / May 4 - June 30, 2019
Tom Glover's art is reflective of the seacoast where he lives, places he has traveled over the years and the influence of his teacher John Laurent. Passed on to Tom from Laurent were the techniques and ideas of Walt Kuhn, the influences of Marsden Hartley, Richard Diebenkorn, Robert Motherwell; and the Great Masters who Laurent urged Tom to go see "in the flesh". Glover followed the advice and traveled throughout Europe to see paintings at the Louvre, the Uffizi, the Prado, the Reina Sofia, the VanGogh museum, the National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Vatican and churches of Rome.
Color is a main thrust in Glovers work and he uses techniques such as glazing and juxtaposing complimentary colors to create intense contrasts and tensions. These are the direct lessons of Laurent and the study of diverse artists such as Matisse, Bonnard, Monet, Porter, Avery, Diebenkorn and others.
Color is a main thrust in Glovers work and he uses techniques such as glazing and juxtaposing complimentary colors to create intense contrasts and tensions. These are the direct lessons of Laurent and the study of diverse artists such as Matisse, Bonnard, Monet, Porter, Avery, Diebenkorn and others.
|
|
Glover also has gone on several retreats and residencies. He spent a week alone on White Islands of the Isles of Shoals with no potable water, electricity or communication--a time he cherished! He was part of an Arts Week on Great Spruce Head Island, the family summer home of painter Fairfield Porter and his brother Eliot Porter, the famed photographer. He was able to use Fairfield's easel and roam the island for a week. He was artist in Residence on Appledore Island recently and has made many sojourns to Europe; Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island; the jungles of Costa Rica; New Mexico and Arizona; Block Island, Monhegan Island, Acadia and many other nooks and crannies of the New England coast. Not to mention the mountains and lakes region where he has summered since birth on lake Massasecum. Visit www.tpgloverart.com for more information.
Robert Indiana / Saturday, May 4, 2019 (1-3PM)
The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts, in association with The Argh Gallery, is pleased to announce a one-day-only exhibition featuring a genuine "LOVE" screen print signed by Robert Indiana. The event will take place in the Bernier Room, at the Rochester Community Center, on Saturday, May 4th from 1-3pm. Light refreshments will be served. The public is encouraged to attend.
Greenpeace Love screen print
|
A closeup of Robert Indiana's signature
|
Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark; September 13, 1928 – May 19, 2018) was an American artist associated with the pop art movement. His "LOVE" print, first created for the Museum of Modern Art's Christmas card in 1965, was the basis for his 1970 "LOVE" sculpture and the widely distributed 1973 United States Postal Service "LOVE" stamp.
In 1994, Robert Indiana did a limited run of green “LOVE” prints to benefit the Greenpeace organization. Indiana personally gifted one of the prints to Sarah Knoy, director of the Greenpeace offices in Chicago, IL.
Currently valued at $5,000, Knoy and The ARGH Gallery (Manchester, NH) are happy to display the print at the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts and offer it to collectors and art enthusiasts.
In 1994, Robert Indiana did a limited run of green “LOVE” prints to benefit the Greenpeace organization. Indiana personally gifted one of the prints to Sarah Knoy, director of the Greenpeace offices in Chicago, IL.
Currently valued at $5,000, Knoy and The ARGH Gallery (Manchester, NH) are happy to display the print at the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts and offer it to collectors and art enthusiasts.
Matt Pidgeon / November 3 - January 4, 2019
Matt Pidgeon has been a painter for most of his life and employs various mediums including acrylic, oil, and enamel on canvas. Pidgeon has been featured in numerous galleries throughout New England and New York. His work has been has been acquired by both public and private collectors, residential and commercial.
|
|
|
|
|
Pidgeon is heavily influenced by the works of Wassily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Picasso, and Braque. He paints with great passion for music and incorporates mood evoking color and movement into his works. The process is meticulous and involves hours of painting, viewing, and reflecting.
This will be Matt’s second exhibition with the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts. His work was last showcased in a vacant store front window. This will be his first solo exhibition in the Bernier Room.
This will be Matt’s second exhibition with the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts. His work was last showcased in a vacant store front window. This will be his first solo exhibition in the Bernier Room.
NHIA ALUMNI / September 8-30, 2018
The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts invites the public to view a selection of works created by alumni of the New Hampshire Institute of Art. During the reception, the museum will dedicate its newest gallery to former Rochester Mayor, Harvey E. Bernier, for tirelessly advocating for the arts and encouraging volunteerism throughout the city.
David Holmander
|
Michelle Peterson
|
The New Hampshire Institute of Art is the oldest and largest non-profit arts institution in New Hampshire, founded in 1898 and today offering undergraduate, graduate, and community education programs serving over 2,000 students annually on two campuses in Manchester and Sharon/Peterborough, New Hampshire.
This group exhibition will include works by: Aimee Cozza, Ali Keller, Carol Whelan, David Holmader, Deminique Cole, Kate Knox, Keith Demanche, Michelle Johnsen, Michelle Peterson, Michelle Wyatt, Prem Mutho, and Tracy Hayes.
This group exhibition will include works by: Aimee Cozza, Ali Keller, Carol Whelan, David Holmader, Deminique Cole, Kate Knox, Keith Demanche, Michelle Johnsen, Michelle Peterson, Michelle Wyatt, Prem Mutho, and Tracy Hayes.
Kate Knox
|
Tracy Hayes
|
The exhibition was juried by renowned artist Jeannie Motherwell, an abstract painter working out of Boston, MA.
Jeannie Motherwell inherited a love of painting from her father, Robert Motherwell, and stepmother, Helen Frankenthaler, two pillars of mid-century abstraction. She studied painting at Bard College and the Art Students League in New York. Continuing with her art after college, she became active in arts education at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, until relocating to Cambridge, MA, where she worked at Boston University for the graduate program in Arts Administration until 2015. She served on the Cambridge Arts Council Public Art Commission from 2004 - 2007 and is currently on the Advisory Board for North Cambridge Arts (NoCa) and Joy Street Artists Open Studios in Somerville, MA. Her work has been featured in public and private collections throughout the US and abroad. Motherwell noted the amount of talent in all of the works submitted.
The public is encouraged to attend the opening reception and dedication on Saturday, September 8th from 1-3pm. The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts is located in the Rochester Community Center (behind Spaulding High School) 150 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH. The museum is sponsored by the City of Rochester, Rochester Main Street, and Bernier Insurance.
Jeannie Motherwell inherited a love of painting from her father, Robert Motherwell, and stepmother, Helen Frankenthaler, two pillars of mid-century abstraction. She studied painting at Bard College and the Art Students League in New York. Continuing with her art after college, she became active in arts education at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, until relocating to Cambridge, MA, where she worked at Boston University for the graduate program in Arts Administration until 2015. She served on the Cambridge Arts Council Public Art Commission from 2004 - 2007 and is currently on the Advisory Board for North Cambridge Arts (NoCa) and Joy Street Artists Open Studios in Somerville, MA. Her work has been featured in public and private collections throughout the US and abroad. Motherwell noted the amount of talent in all of the works submitted.
The public is encouraged to attend the opening reception and dedication on Saturday, September 8th from 1-3pm. The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts is located in the Rochester Community Center (behind Spaulding High School) 150 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH. The museum is sponsored by the City of Rochester, Rochester Main Street, and Bernier Insurance.