Conversations
Gallery at R&F, Kingston, New York, 2011
Co-curated with Laura Moriarty
Originally published April 6, 2011
Conversations began as an online exchange between Laura Moriarty and myself about the dialogue that exists between an artist’s primary means of expression and the work s/he does on paper. As artists who work in the very tangible medium of encaustic—Moriarty as a sculptor, me as a painter—our personal dialogues with our work can be demanding, even physical. Working on paper, which for Moriarty is collage and monotype and for me painting with water media, allows for a lightness and freedom in the give-and-take of process. Sometimes ideas flow between mediums; sometimes separate bodies of work emerge.
Panoramic view as you walk up a short flight of stairs. We're going to walk around the corner in a moment
George Mason
Bright and Clear, 2010; hydrocal plaster, burlap, casein, gold leaf; 49.5 x 37.5
Looking into the gallery you see Steven Alexander's painting and works on paper on the far wall, a Moriarty sculpture on the stand, and my Silk Road paintings on the wall at right. The panoramas below show you the entire gallery in two views
From the doorway, starting at left: Nancy Azara on the left wall; two by Pam Farrell, one by George Mason, Steven Alexander from center to the end of the far wall; Grace DeGennaro on the right wall; two Moriarty sculptures on stands
Turning clockwise, with the sculpture to orient you: three by Grace DeGenaro, a Lorrie Fredette installation, my paintings and, through the doorway, a work on paper; two by Nancy Azara
Taking our visual cue from the panorama just above, we're going to travel counterclockwise in the gallery for our tour
Lorrie Fredette
Proper Limits (Truth), 2010; mixed media with discharged paper, wax, resin, soil and muslin
Installation view: Moriarty, De Gennaro, Fredette
Installation view: Moriarty, Alexander, DeGennaro
Grace DeGennaro
Weaving, 2010, oil on linen; 34 x 21 inches
Installation view: Alexander, Moriarty
Steven Alexander
Mother Tongue #12, 2010, acrylic on linen, 20 x 16 inches
Laura Moriarty
Uplift, 2011, encaustic on panel, 16 x 16 x 9 inches
Installation view: Mason, Farrell, DeGennaro
George Mason
At Anchor in the New World, 2010; hydrocal on burlap, and casein paint; 18 x 17 inches
Pam Farrell
Waterwall 4678, 2010, oil on panel 12 x 12 inches
Installation view: Moriarty, foreground; DeGennaro, Azara
Nancy Azara
Black Castle Series; rubbing with collage, oil pastel, paint, pencil on mylar; five sections, 39 x 123 inches
Installation view: Moriarty, foreground; Azara, Mattera
Nancy Azara
Broken Red Leaves, carved and painted wood with palladium leaf and encaustic, 43 x 11 x 2 inches
Installation view: Azara, Mattera
In a moment we're going to exit the gallery and turn right, but first . . .
Joanne Mattera
Silk Road 136, 2010, encaustic on panel 17 x 17 inches
Below: Soie 5, 2010, gouache on Fabriano, framed 26 x 34 inches
Installation views, above and below
Stepping out of the gallery and around the corner, we come to Moriarty's works on paper, waxed map shards that are collaged and pinned,in a composition suggestive of compass points.
Farther down the wall you will glimpse Farrell's and Mason's monoprints, as the image below shows
Installation view from the other end of the wall: Mason's and Farrell's monoprints, with a view below of one of Farrell's works photographed before framing
Pam Farrell
Soft Parade 0012, 2010, monoprint/oil on mulberry paper, 15 x 19 inches unframed
Conversations ran from early April through mid-May, 2011. Participating artists were Steven Alexander (Pennsylvania), Nancy Azara (New York), Grace DeGennaro (Maine), Pam Farrell (New Jersey), Lorrie Fredette (New York), George Mason (Maine), and the two curators, Laura Moriarty (New York), and myself (Massachusetts and New York).