Fiddlers Hill Road (Maryland) by Thierry Guillemin. Acrylic on canvas, 48x36"
When Time Stops
Thierry Guillemin
As the world paused during the early days of confinement, many turned to what felt more essential, more meaningful. For a while, time seemed like suspended… These paintings are a reflection of this moment when nature experienced an unexpected reprieve from human activity. This is also a painted homage, as I feel deep connections with each of these places, because of friendships or family roots. After many years of more abstract painting, I enjoyed this new exploration. As painter David Hockney put it, “Time stopped is perspective.”
Please visit the artist’s website at www.thierryguillemin.com to learn more about his work.
In a potter’s studio, Catskills (New York) by Thierry Guillemin. Acrylic on canvas, 40X30”
In the Lower Gallery
Minimal Surfaces
Davide Prete
Davide Prete’s work has focused on new technologies such as 3D printing and laser scanning combined with traditional metalsmithing techniques. For his latest projects, mathematical equations (especially Scherk Collins surfaces) provide him with a pretext to connect figurative images with a new language, to discover what he called “a new form of shamanism.”
Prete was born in Treviso, Italy, and introduced to the art of metalsmithing by his father Alessandro and by the sculptor Toni Benetton. He studied jewelry and metalsmithing at the Institute of Art in Venice and, in 2003, obtained a degree in architecture. Prete worked as an architect for several Italian architectural firms, especially with Toni Follina. After meeting his wife in Zimbabwe, he moved to the United States. In 2010 he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Fontbonne University, Saint Louis, where he studied under the guidance of Hank Knickmeyer and developed a personal sculptural process, mixing traditional metal casting and new technologies such as 3D printing and laser scanning. He moved to Washington, DC, and started working as a professor of fine art later that year. He is an assistant professor at the University of the District of Columbia and a lecturer at Catholic University of America.
Davide recently finalized his training with a certificate in Digital Fabrication at fabAcademy and at MIT xPro.
Prete’s work has been shown in both national and international venues (Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, England, France and the USA). His latest public work “Soundwave Art Park” has been installed in August at the Greenbelt / Fort Dupont Park in Washington DC.
Please visit the artist’s website at www.davideprete.com to learn more about his work.
Voices of the Forest
Cheryl Ann Bearss
I paint trees “plein air” and from my imagination in both oil and acrylic. I am inspired by the forest that lay waiting only minutes from my house. When I enter a wooded area, I retreat from everyday concerns. I have traveled across the country, soaking in the beauty of the natural world. I love a forest while it is resting during the winter months. I can clearly see the interconnected roots and branches. I have recently enjoyed the books, The Overstory, Powers and The Hidden Life of Trees, Wohlleben, which speak of the connection of all things in a forest.
Cheryl Ann Bearss has her undergraduate and graduate degree in Art from Indiana University. She has had numerous shows across the VA, MD, and DC area.
Please visit the artist’s website at www.cherylannbearss.com to learn more about her work.
In the Garden Gallery
Paintings by Jennifer Duncan
In a year memorable mostly for strangeness, struggles and stress, due to a global pandemic, I have taken daily walks from my unusually “full” house through familiar forests to retrieve normalcy, find peace and gather inspiration. The woods radiated a remarkable “technicolor” aura last spring and summer, with a specific hue of brilliant green dominating my paint palette. Liquitex color, “Permanent Green”, reflected to me, at the same time, both the unnaturally intense coloring of my surroundings and the holding pattern we faced in our lives, due to Covid-19. The days melded into one another, all similar in routine, reinforcing collective feelings of tension about the virus and as well as vivid color, but the woods brought comfort and refreshing crisp air. I was determined, despite multiple distractions, I would paint the local landscape in a painting a week.
Each of the paintings in this series evolved from a sketch made and or a photo taken in direct response to an observation or an experience I had on my walks. But as I painted, the pieces became more about the memory of the place and my connection to it. They combine the energy of all that is around us in mother nature, the anxiety of being outside my home during a pandemic, and some tricks of vision in an ordinary landscape – like when sunlight hits hanging vines in a way that turns them coral pink.
Please visit the artist’s website at www.jenniferduncanart.com to learn more about her work.
Ceramics by William Bowser
I consider this recent work allegorical. I use generic building forms and rely on the viewers to bring their own questions and evaluations with them when they encounter this work.
The questions below are questions I ask myself while making forms such as these. For example:
“Benefits of Isolation” - How or why is isolation beneficial? What could this structure allude to? How would one gain access into a structure like this, or how could one get out? What or who are those things inside of it? Is this some kind of cloister? Prison? What are those long rods on top and are they going out or in?
“Closed Buildings” (2 objects) - How would one get inside such buildings that have windows which seem too small, doors that don’t actually seem like doors, and may or may not allow access? Who gets admittance? Who or what might be inside? What does the coloration imply? Whatever this structure is, could it be dangerous? Valuable? What kind of foundations are these, or are they foundations at all?
Regarding the 2 smaller objects in the center of the display, I refer to this vein of my work as “Fabrications.” The pieces of clay that I use to make them are left over pieces of clay that I save while constructing the works described above. They offer an opportunity to improvise with very little alteration. I do this often. To start, I have no specific object in mind and there is no plan. As I persist, only then do the forms start to make themselves visible. Some have an allegorical nature, some do not. Imagination is basic and necessary.
Likewise for the 2 drawings I have included here. Do they require a similar type of questioning? For me, they do.
Thank you very much for stopping to look.
Please visit the artist’s website at williambowser.net to learn more about his work.
Now Extended - Online Only
Studio Gallery 2021: Annual Fundraiser for Studio Gallery
Proceeds from Studio Gallery 2021 will go directly to Studio Gallery, and support our mission of fostering a public appreciation for the world of the arts.
Studio Gallery grew out of the frustration that Jennie Lea Knight and Nancy Lloyd felt at their exclusion and that of other women and minority artists from representation in galleries during the 1950’s and 60’s. These two artists, along with several others, became the “Founding Mothers” of the Gallery.
In 1964 Studio Gallery opened its doors and offered these under-represented artists the opportunity to exhibit. It became an inclusive member-owned gallery that continues to highlight and provide a professional platform for DMV artists.
Knight’s legacy continues to this day. As we navigate these tumultuous times our doors are still open. In this Spring of 2021, we are taking this opportunity to present work that is inspired by the art and life of Jennie Lea Knight.