Aaron Fink: The Rite of Spring

AARON FINKThe Rite of Spring

Cherries, 2013, oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches

AARON FINKThe Rite of Spring

May 3 - June 4, 2014

Alpha Gallery37 Newbury StreetBoston, Ma 02116

[email protected]

In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain.

— Pliny (the Elder) Deceased August 24, 24 A.D. at Mount Vesuvius

It is the simple things that open the possibilities to the complexities of experience. The simple is re-ally not so simple. The commonplace is the step-ping stone to the universal. It is the link that we share, the place we start from, for example “How’s the weather today?” This is a common phenom-ena that binds us like a fabric, but then there are differences that separate us and the perceptions of the individual that are the result of one’s own unique experiences. Art can remain humble and seek the heroic in equal portions. The origins of art can be found anywhere one looks for them.

In painting, for me, the message is in the medium, the materiality or substance of the paint itself. The image in the painting is of the commonplace, but it is also the point of departure. What is painted becomes the vehicle, the way into a realm of sen-sation based on experience and the physical na-ture of the paint itself. The idea is to know what it is and not know what it is. There is the image, the form, the volume, the illusion, a sign from the world. Then there is the reality of the canvas, the flatness of the painted surface and the physical nature of the paint itself and the hand. The at-tempt is to create a synthesis of contradictions based on intuition.

The intent is to create a visualization of the idea of an image while denying the illusion of it in order to reconcile it with the materiality of the paint it-self. The attempt then is that the painting become something else, a vehicle for thought that trans-poses itself into an object of contemplation.

— Aaron Fink

Peony, 2014, oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches

Blue Rose, 2013, oil on panel, 24 x 18 inches

Blue Rose, 2012, oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches




Blue Magnolia, 2009, oil on linen, 72 x 60 inches

Magnolia (Orange Ground), 2011, oil on panel, 24 x 18 inches

Magnolia (Purple & Blue), 2010, oil on linen, 48 x 60 inches

Magnolia (Magenta), 2014, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches

Lotus, 2011, oil on panel, 20 x 16 inches

Key Lime Pie, 2013, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches

Blueberry Pie, 2013, oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches

Key Lime Pie, 2013, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches

Blueberry Pie, 2013, oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches

Banana Split, 2013, oil on panel, 30 x 40 inches

Banana Split, 2012, oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches

Whipped Cream 1, 2014, oil on panel, 24 x 18 inches




Magnolia (Pink), 2014, oil on panel, 30 x 24 inches

Blue Peony, 2013, oil on panel, 24 x 12 inches Pink Peony, 2013, oil on panel, 24 x 12 inches

Pink Peony, 2013, oil on panel, 24 x 12 inches

Peony, 2014, oil on linen, 60 x 48 inches

Magnolia, 2010, oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches

Peony, 2014, oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches

Born in Boston, 1955

Selected Collections

Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DCAnderson Industries, Rockford, ILArt Complex Museum, Duxbury, MAArt Institute of ChicagoBank of AmericaBoston Public LibraryBouwfonds Netherlandse Gemeenten, The NetherlandsBrooklyn Museum of ArtCastelli Collection, New YorkChase Manhattan BankChemical BankChildrens Hospital, ChicagoChoate Rosemary Hall, Wallingofrd, CTCitizens Bank, BostonCoopers & LybrandDanforth Museum, Framingham, MADanish House of ParliamentDavis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MADeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MAFarnsworth Museum, MaineFidelity Investments, BostonFirstbank of MinneapolisFogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, MAFuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MAG.E. CorporationGoldman Sachs & CompanyGraham Gund CollectionHara Museum, TokyoSamuel P. Harn Museum, University of Florida, GainsvilleArthur J. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, AustinE.F. HuttonIBM, New YorkIndianapolis Museum of ArtLibrary of CongressMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MAMetropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMuseum of Contemporary Art, ChicagoMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Modern Art, New York

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DCNew York Public LibraryNorton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, FLPaine-Webber Group, New YorkPeat, Warwick, Mitchell & Co., New York & FloridaPhiladelphia Museum of ArtPortland Museum of Art, Portland, MaineKimoko and John PowersPrudential Life Insurance Co.Putnam Investments, Boston, MARoxbury Community CollegeSonesta International Hotel Corp.Stop & Shop Inc., BostonSundance Institute, Provo, UtahPeter Stuyvesant Foundation, The NetherlandsTexas InstrumentsJ.Walter ThompsonLois and Michael Torf CollectionTufts University Art Gallery, Medford, MATufts University School of Medicine, BostonUnited States Department of StateUniversity of Massachusetts, AmherstWalker Art Center, MinneapolisWellington Management Co., BostonWorcester Museum of Art, Worcester, MAZimmerli Art Museum, Brunswick, NJ

Education

School of Art and Architecture, Yale University, Hew Haven, CT, MFA 1979Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD, BFA 1977Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine; Summer 1976

Documents

Aaron Fink: The Rite of Spring