Narrative Fragments

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The exhibition Narrative Fragments highlights a form of veiled storytell-ing where the artist conveys complex figurative works that depict grand story arcs, while compressing a multitude of thoughts, ideas and emo-tions into a static singular image. Assembling the work for this exhibi-tion necessitated exploring a vast amount of artistic terrain, culminating in this international, mini-survey of contemporary narrative painting.

As you walk through the gallery and ponder the various paintings, you may feel the urge to discern the precise interpretation the artist intended. I believe unreservedly that there is no right or wrong answer to this query. Each of us possess unique and valid perceptions which I encourage you to embrace as you reflect upon the art presented.

Andrea Kalinowski, Director

Narrative FragmentsSeptember 20 - October 20, 2012

Zachary Thorton With the Trees, oil on panel, 18 x 43 inches (cover)

Realism is multifaceted. Over the centuries, multiple trends, tendencies, and directions devel-oped, merged, and intertwined. As I identified my art being an integral part of this general style, I tried to define my place within it. In my works I often depict situations that cannot occur in real life but become possible in the presence of patience, irony, and desire to see them happen. They are pseudo-real. Therefore, I define my form of realism as pseudo-realism, where impos-sible is not only possible but also sensible and plausible. - Ilya Zomb

Ilya Zomb Gathering Curiosities, oil on linen, 46 x 32 inches

Robert Schefman Maintaining Tin, oil on canvas, 44 x 32 inches

Philip Buller Charlotteoil on linen on panel, 48 x 56 inches

Tiina Heiska Girl with Red Shoes, oil on canvas, 32 x 24 inches

I am investigating the psychological complexity of women through intimate observa-tions in the bedroom. The work is inspired by the cult of beauty in contemporary mass media. Intricately painted, decorative interiors are invented to titillate the viewer. - Karen Ann Myers

Karen Ann Myers Southwestern Medallion Bed and Diamond Rug, oil on panel, 24 x 36 inches

Shaun Downey Yellow Bicycle, oil on panel, 31 x 60 inches

Shaun Downey Yellow Bicycle, oil on panel, 31 x 60 inches

Jeremy Long Backyard Summer, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

Jeremy Long Backyard Summer, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

Lu Cong Makena, oil on panel, 30 x 30 inches (above)

Lu Cong Jodi Lynn, oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches (right)

Thematically, my paintings address the complexity of memory, by blurring and questioning the lines between recollection, projection, and reality. Each painting becomes a psychological landscape or wak-ing dream, examining the notion of “reality”. The shifting environ-ments become a metaphor for the transience of our experience and the indelible impressions they leave in us.

Jennifer Presant Final Haven, oil on linen, 23 x 42 inches

I transform the room by using projections of various places or figures on the walls, in essence creating a virtual extension of the space. By combining layers of images, I explore how a room can be transformed to create an experience that is multilayered and time-based for the viewer. The movement of the interiors and exteriors overlapping and shifting into one another is meant to mimic the real life experience of memory distorting and influencing the present. - Jennifer Presant

Jennifer Presant Final Haven, oil on linen, 23 x 42 inches

It takes an object, a quirky bizarre little thing, to inspire me to paint. For me these objects, often childhood memorabilia, are emblematic of the complex nature of being a modern woman. Through the figure I strive to understand and make sense of numerous personal and political contradictions. With this I play many roles: the child, the adolescent, the young adult, the woman and the mother. The time and space is psychological; it is formed of broken childhood memories and adult desires where the past, present and future col-lide. I am interested in this collision, not only in content, but also in form. I fragment the picture plane and create simultaneous realities: illustrated lessons from late 19th c. and early 2oth c. heirloom books, which focus on teaching behavioral lessons to children and adolescents and a representational depiction of a contemporary figure in response to the text. This juxtaposition creates a paradox; the graphic images are bright and sweet, but combined with the text and the figure they underlie a darker more complex message. The uncanny, according to Freud, arouses initial feelings of fright or terror before revealing a sense of comfort in familiarity. I suggest the reverse, that our nostalgia for simpler times belies our horror, simultaneously attracting and repelling. - Forrest Solis

Forrest Solis Broad Hips oil and acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 inches

Forrest Solis Chapter IV: Sleepoil and acrylic on canvas, 42 x 54 inches

Tracey Harris Self Help for the People Around Youoil on panel, 18 x 24 inches (above)

Jeremey Miranda Night Harvest, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches (left)

David Graeme Baker Causeway, oil on panel, 24 x 40 inches

David Graeme Baker Causeway, oil on panel, 24 x 40 inches

Philip Buller Lost, oil on canvas on panel, 48 x 60 inches

Jeff Hein Life #1, oil on panel, 30 x 14 inches

Lindsay Larremore 2:29PM, oil on panel, 11 inches in diameter

Lindsay Larremore 8:31PM, oil on panel, 11 inches in diameter

Annie Dover Blue Bar, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Duncan Hannah, a Minneapolis-born Anglophile, summons the spirit of a British esthetic throughout his oeuvre. His recurring subjects, drawn from early to mid-century cinema and literature, include vintage sports cars tooling around the English countryside, the reclusive British film star Nova Pilbeam, and his invented group of adventure-book heroes, the Shipwreck Boys.Hannah is a New York-based figurative painter who has had 50 solo exhibitions in the United States and England since his debut in 1981. He attended Bard College in the early 1970s when the art world was dictated by mass culture and conceptualism, whereas his work was a harkening back to an idealistic era where simplicity and ro-manticism reigned.

Hannah’s paintings are represented in collections both nationally and internation-ally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, and Mick Jagger’s private collection. Duncan Hannah is the recipient of the 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Duncan Hannah The Shipwreck Boys, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches

I draw my subject matter from my experiences of raising my son from birth, on my own. My figurative images of wom-en appear powerful (and sometimes snarky) and began as a nagging complaint. The complaint was, “How am I going to get everything done, day to day?” The women are depicted with the feminine lexicons of rubber gloves used for doing the dishes, feather dusters and perhaps holding a variety of hammers and other tools. I soon realized my work was more of a celebration in that “Yes, I can get this done day after day“. Recognizing that perhaps only in this time in history could I have been able to create a life as a full time painter and mother and I cherish that independence.One thing I enjoy about the art work is that when someone encounters the work for the first time, there is laughter and a universal understanding of the difficulties in life and the im-portance of laughing at oneself. There is so much that can be endured through humor, as I feel I do. It is only natural to put it in the work. - Tracey Harris

Tracey Harris Just Desserts, oil on panel, 36 x 36 inches

Michael Leonard Crouching Man, oil on panel, 22 x 17 inches

Caitlin Hurd Family Portrait, oil on canvas, 60 x 84 inches

Gary Ruddell Learning To Trust oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches (above)

Gary Ruddell Blue Money, oil on canvas,f 54 x 52 inches (left)

Shaun Downey The White Dress, oil on panel, 48 x 26 inches

Lucy Gaylord Lindholm Russian Typewritter, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches

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