CHESTERTOWN — Summer at MassoniArt is a celebration of new work by gallery artists Heidi Fowler, Katherine Cox, Joe Karlik, Zemma Mastin White, Julia Clift, Blake Conroy, Jacqui Crocetta, Simma Liebman, Grace Mitchell and Kathryn O’Grady. Virtually all the work featured deals with the challenges of climate change and our connection to the natural world.
The show will be on view at MassoniArt Gallery, 113 S. Cross St. in downtown Chestertown, from now through Aug. 15.
Mitchell’s landscape paintings have long sought to be harbingers of the challenges facing our planet due to man-made climate change.
According to a news release, her new paintings continue to depict the damaged quality of the environment but do so in bright, celebratory colors and are meant to show a joy in what remains of our magnificent world.
In her essay titled “Birds after a Storm,” Mitchell reflects on the 250th anniversary of America, its national identity and spiritual well-being.
Cox’s graphite drawing “In the Wind Last Night” captures the delicacy of wind through trees, while “The Sea Within” overwhelms with the sheer power of water.
Fowler committed to using recycled materials in her work more than 20 years ago. Her her new body of work depicts meditations on the 23rd Psalm. “Through the Valley, Still” references her ongoing journey “through the valley” with materials ranging from security envelopes as the substrate and painted designs inspired by garments fashioned by the wives and grandmothers of Japanese fishermen, sailors and firemen for their loved ones.
A newcomer to the gallery, Clift incorporates her residency in the Shenandoah region to reflect on our separation from nature via ICT (Information and Communication Technology) devices in her large-scale oil paintings.
Using metal as his medium, Conroy captures the intricacy of the briar patch and crabapple branches in his multi-layered hand-cut and etched copper and brass reliefs.
O’Grady’s oil on board landscapes drawn from sojourns in her backyard have been described as “fierce explosions of color and texture.”
The abstract repeated patterns and confetti colors of White’s “Cherry Blossoms” signal the joy of spring.
Liebman’s collaged landscapes of winter trees created from multiple photograph images on transparencies mounted on canvas overlayed with oil and wax all ask us to bear witness to inherent strength and complexity of creation.
Hours during the exhibition are 11 a.m to 4 p.m on Thursdays and Fridays; 10 a.m to 5 p.m. on Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Private appointments may be scheduled at any time by contacting Carla Massoni at 410-708-4512 or Kate Ballantine 410-310-0796 in advance.
In addition to featured exhibitions, MassoniArt continues its tradition of showcasing a diverse selection of works by represented gallery artists throughout the year.
For more information, visit www.massoniart.com.
