Exhibitions - Abstracts Abound: Artist in Residence Show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE: MARTHA’S VINEYARD

It is with great pleasure that the Louisa Gould Gallery presents a new show, ‘ Abstracts Abound: Art from the Artist in Residence’, opening on February 18, 2021 and continuing until April 18, 2021. The Artist in Residence (AIR) was held in November 2020 at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) in Florida, a renowned artist colony, for working artists to concentrate on their craft. This was the third year Louisa Gould of Louisa Gould Gallery/ Martha’s Vineyard Workshops ran the AIR with fellow artist, Terri Dilling. Eight (8) artists attended the 2020 AIR and are exhibiting new abstracts paintings that were created during the nine-day residency including Brit Bair, Wooley Dutton, Garnet Reardon, Louisa Gould, Casey Matthews, Vickie Marsango and Rhenda Saparito.

These artists create individual works of art by employing a variety of media: acrylics, collage papers, oil and water-based monotypes, archival ink jet prints and pastels. The paintings, prints and collages reflect their personal approaches to their media and embodies how abstract art has unlimited paths and by-ways upon which an artist can journey. Pieces in the show range from the purely non-objective to allusions to the outside world.

The AIR was held for nine days in early November at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. This AIR is a vetted program, many of the painters have worked together at the ACA in previous years. This was the third year for Louisa Gould’s participation. The studios are open 24 hours which provides artists flexibility to pursue their craft day or night. It is extremely freeing to be able to create when you have the energy be it 5am or 10pm. The beach and marshlands are located minutes away which provide for up-lifting nature breaks. Many of the works in this show are a response to the lush tropical landscape of the ACA properties and surrounding habitat.

Louisa runs this program as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Workshops which she launched in 2010, offering various painting and photography workshops. If interested in participating in the next AIR at the ACA or on Martha’s Vineyard, please submit a portfolio for review.

Britt Bair is an abstract expressionist artist who works in acrylic, mixed media and oil. Her work has been seen at Galleries, Museums, Art Centers and many local venues. She is represented by Gallery 104 in NYC, Geary Gallery in Darien, CT, Avondale Arts in Watch Hill, RI and Louisa Gould Gallery in Martha’s Vineyard, MA.

“Color and light are the elements that inspire me most. I see how the air affects light, creating a glow that brings energy into the moment. I express myself through intuition by painting fast and furiously using layers of paint to create that light and then mark making to add vibrancy and life. Each painting is a unique story, a special moment. Painting at the ACA opened my mind to new techniques and ideas. I was inspired by the modern architecture and colors and tried to incorporate that into my work. My hope is to create a unique painting where someone can interpret and recall a place and enjoy a sense of light and happiness.”

Britt Bair graduated from Colby Sawyer College in New London, NH with a Liberal Arts degree and the University of California Riverside with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art and Photography.

Terri Dilling is inspired by the beauty and complexity of nature, creating abstract paintings that are full of color and emotion. She is especially inspired by water and sky combining energetic marks with quiet spaces to create a balance that feels intuitively right. Dilling has a BA from Indiana University, a BFA from Georgia State University, and has also studied visual arts in England, Spain, and Italy. She is based in Atlanta and has been professionally exhibiting her work for over 20 years.

As a co-organizer of the Working Artist Residency Program with Louisa Gould, Terri believes in the importance of communal support between artists. “The time spent painting with other artists in residency has become a priority for me. We learn so many things from each other and push each other to make better work. I return home energized and inspired, and I make better art. This year I learned more about combining soft areas with fresh bold marks to give the painting more contrast and energy.”

Wooley Dutton spent her youth largely in England and Australia, was educated in the Mid-West with an apprenticeship in Mexico and achieved career success in Boston. But it is island life that most intimately informs her work.

Wooley Dutton’s entire career focus has been in the world of visual arts integrating branding and communications development across a broad range of categories especially from her former role as Managing Partner, Director of Design, at The Boston Group. Today, Ms. Dutton’s visual acuity is focused on painting. In her studios in Anna Maria and Jamestown, Ms. Dutton is a prolific painter immersed in exploration of color through figurative and abstract work. She finds joy in developing subjects including portraiture, the firmament, birds and color play.

Dutton’s credentials include numerous awards in the commercial sphere; her work by commission and acquisition is held in many private collections .

Louisa Gould is a working artist based on Martha’s Vineyard. Louisa studied painting as an elective at college and at the Arts Student League and Parsons in New York. For a number of years Louisa put her painting aside and pursued finance, yachting, travel and sports photography, but has started to return to painting. ‘Painting for me is the truest form of art and sometimes the most difficult. Paintings can flow easily or create the most profound internal dialogues, soul searching and exploration. At times painting can be harder than anything else in the world as the canvas is a true mirror, and other times pure bliss and flow’. The energy of color drives my paintings. At this recent AIR, I created over 45 paintings. The ones in this show are the Graffiti series, which was simply pure play and a lot of fun. As all of the artists are very open and generous with their materials during the residency. I borrowed some tools from fellow artists Britt Bair and Garnet Reardon. Around 10pm one night Garnet popped over to the second studio and we essentially talked while I played with mediums I had not used together before. We laughed a lot…simply being in the creative flow. I was playing, creating and laughing and these paintings are a result. They were not painted for any commercial venue, but viola, here they are. Thanks Garnet!

For me this is the essence of what the AIR is all about, providing the place, space and open creative environment to play, create and push the boundaries not only of the work but of ourselves.

Casey Matthews creates rich paintings with multi-media surfaces that are both visually intriguing and full of energy. They incorporate expressive color, fluid movement, and strong elements of design. The work combines emotional content, observation, technique, exploration, and reinvention. She has developed a series of gestures and marks that make up a unique visual language. It is a vague form of communication in an attempt to achieve balance and beauty. From a distance, her works impose a singular statement of color, composition and tone; viewed closely, they suggest a complex narrative that is multi-hued and textured.

Artmaking has been the only constant activity in my life. I lose interest in things easily; yet I have always made time to create. Creating art feeds my soul and grounds me both mentally and physically. It is my intention to live a creative life and create work that is original, honest, and authentic - and that is an extension of my personality: Multilayered, colorful, playful, and adventurous. I am always learning and pushing myself to be the best artist that I can possibly be, and not become too complacent.

I strive to create rich paintings with multi-media surfaces that are both visually intriguing, fluid and full of energy. They incorporate expressive color, movement, and strong elements of design. The work combines observation, technique, exploration, and reinvention. Over the years, a visual language has developed: A series of gestures and marks that make up a unique dialog. It is a vague form of communication in an attempt to achieve tension, balance and beauty. From a distance, the works impose a singular statement of color, composition and tone; viewed closely, they suggest a complex narrative that is multi-hued and textured.

Vicki Marsango My work is abstract expressionism with a focus on intuitive mark making. Paint application is guided from previous experiences that come to the fore when I activate the canvas. I love working large....really large. There’s a certain freedom of being able to “stretch out” when approaching the canvas. Even if the large canvas is ultimately cut into a smaller size, I wouldn’t have gotten the same result if the work was originated on a small substrate.

I have been a painter for over thirty years taking art classes or workshops continuously. My art practice has been significantly elevated by attending AIR (Artists in Residency) at ACA (Atlantic Center for the Arts). Not only is the sheer volume of studio time beneficial but the community and positive reinforcement from other artists is invigorating. Everyone is willing to share their knowledge.

Garnet Reardon

Born in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, which emotionally ingrained in her that external conflict does not define or dictate how one should think or feel. That external labels are less valuable than the internal ones. As a young adult, she moved to London for formal studies in design and embarked on a career working for a range of publishing and design firms. Garnet lives in Atlanta Georgia with her family.

I am fascinated by the relationship between two things, the merging of things (like two piano notes combined) and the space surrounding things. It all has the potential to energetically uplift everything within its reach and it speaks a language that says more than words. It is a sensation. Working with a variety of lines, textures and colors in an effort to get lost in this visual language of mark making, to capture this felt vibratory energy. A communication beyond words.

This AIR residency came at a time when our social worlds had been shut down, for some time already due to Covid. So, I was hungry for fellow artists and to bath in the creative mindset. It was different because of the strict guidelines we needed to follow to keep us safe, but where it really mattered, all was exactly as it should be! I was surrounded with creativity. Not as you might expect with chatter or loud music blaring, but it was quiet in the studio. The sound of the occasional thud or scraping noises, flutter of brush against canvas, and the hum of shuffling feet almost like that of a dancer. If I looked up, I saw fellow artists with headphones on, seemingly engrossed in a deep conversation with their wall of canvases!

In my private world, looking at my wall, my inner critic decided to sabotage me. That mean voice told me that I wasn’t any good, and that I better produce something knock out. The pressure being certain creative block. On the positive, the energy surrounding me was enough of a current to carry me forward. These were career artists who are hardworking and very serious. So, I pushed myself and worked harder than I would have otherwise. On my 4th day, I produced a painting that I unexpectedly felt great about. I surprised myself. All I can think was that I was in the zone and when I looked up, I actually liked what I saw. My gut spoke before my brain.

I came away from retreat with two new jewels of knowledge. First being that the critic NEEDS to find something wrong (it is her job). I should use that voice for options but allow my gut to make the decisions. Second, was that I should not judge my paintings until I can look at them with the same heart that I painted them from. I paint from my heart, but I look and critic from the neck up.

Rhenda Saporito My work is abstract expressionism with a focus on intuitive mark making. Paint application is guided from previous experiences that come to the fore when I activate the canvas. A typical "mixed-media painting" may contain any or all of the following: Acrylic, gouache, ink, marker, crayon, graphite, oil, oil sticks, collage, fabric, polymer.

I love working large....really large. There’s a certain freedom of being able to “stretch out” when approaching the canvas. Even if the large canvas is ultimately cut into a smaller size, I wouldn’t have gotten the same result if the work was originated on a small substrate.

I have been a painter for over thirty years taking art classes or workshops continuously. My art practice has been significantly elevated by attending AIR (Artists in Residency) at ACA (Atlantic Center for the Arts). Not only is the sheer volume of studio time beneficial but the community and positive reinforcement from other artists is invigorating. Everyone is willing to share their knowledge.

The “Cigars on the Beach” series began at ACA several years ago. The first painting was juried into the Louisiana Contemporary Art Show at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. It took about three weeks to name the painting. One day I walked by and said to myself “of course, it’s cigars on the beach!” and that was it. The series has spawned many works, it has taken on a life of its own.

I hope the viewer of my work will have an emotional response to the abstract shapes, colors and mark making.

The Louisa Gould Gallery is located on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in the culturally historic district of Vineyard Haven. The gallery is located a ½ block from the ferry and is open year-round. The gallery celebrates 19 years during 2021. Works can be viewed at the gallery daily between 11am and 4pm, by private appointment, or FaceTime. Please call the gallery at (508) 693.7373 with any questions or email lg@louisagould.com. www.louisagould.com