Opening June 4th ...

I am excited as today is the drop off for our next show! Three Graces is delighted to present "Kaetlyn Wilcox: The Woodland Chronicles".

In her upcoming show “The Woodland Chronicles,” Kaetlyn Wilcox presents a whimsical group of 44 mixed media paintings that range widely in scale, from monumental dreamscapes on paper, to tiny, one-inch portraits rendered painstakingly onto wooden eggs.

In all of her images, Wilcox seeks to create mysterious, open-ended narratives that explore imagined relationships between human and natural worlds. People encounter tangled forests of tree-size beanstalks growing up out of finely wrought birdcages...

Enormous animals burrow under tree-lined New England streets.

Women transform into wild birds...

and bird-headed people appear, matter-of-factly, dressed in their Sunday best.


Kaetlyn combines elements of gouache, watercolor and graphite works on paper to explore themes of innocence, disillusionment, identity, desire and repression. Her subject matter derives from fairy tales, myths, children’s stories, historical writings, nature publications, field guides and found domestic photography.

She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wellesley College in 2001 with honors in Studio Art and went on to study painting and drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University, where she earned her MFA in 2004. In addition to teaching, Kaetlyn is currently branching out into the world of book illustration.

Join us for the opening reception this Friday, June 4th, from 5-8pm. It's Art 'Round Town (portsmouth's first friday gallery walk) and also the kick off for "Shop Portsmouth Friday Nights" (Local businesses are joining together to stay open late every Friday night through October and warmly greet Portsmouth visitors with our unique shops). We will also have some live music -- Cole and the Make Out Scene will be here!

At the Edge ...

The Portsmouth Museum of Art (they recently dropped "Fine") held its grande opening in June of 2009. In the past year, significant changes have been made. Former curator, Ruthie Treadwell who helped launch the museum is out, and artist Katherine Doyle is in. The new mission and vision statements define the museum as an institution of education. This clarification will end an earlier practice of selling art. Their current goal is to enrich the local cultural landscape by developing partnerships, creating collaborative opportunities among artist and art organizations an by presenting a complete art experience that includes literature and poetry, performance art, film and other technologies and to initiate an on-going public dialogue around art.

This past Thursday evening marked the official opening of their current exhibition, "At the Edge: Subversive Ideas and New Forms".

This show explores intent and expression created with a range of materials and techniques. Each artist sets their sights on an 'edge' with his or her own visual language. They challenge viewers preconceived notions about familiar objects and art forms. Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz take the expected kitch of snowglobes and transform them into vulnerable little worlds. The tables are turned with Tony Oursler's sculpture as digital images of eyes peer out from an amoeba-like splat. Tseng Kwong Chi's 1983 photograph of choreographer Bill T. Jones, painted by Keith Haring, celebrates art and movement with the body as living canvas. Ray Caesar digitally creates incredibly detailed and strangely haunting worlds in beautifully rendered images that are both delightful and disturbing. 'My Mother's Legacy' is a series of bowls presenting a poem that commemorates Boston artist Sarah Hutt's mother's life. Commentary on current political and social events is presented with a wry sense of humor as Daniel McDonald's band of bobble-head mummies struggles with 'Restricted Access to Medical Care'. A sampling of Judy Chicago's iconic plates, a print by Jeff Koons and a story quilt by Faith Ringgold are among the gems in this show that you won't want to miss.

I was thrilled by the opportunity to curate a small exhibition in the main lobby space in conjunction with the new show! Three Graces is very pleased and proud to present works by Denise Duong, Amy Gross, Nicole Maloof and Kelly Vivanco.


Here are a few photos of the show (starting in the main lobby) ...

... and to the main exhibition ...

More pictures from "At the Edge" can be seen on our flickr.

All of the works in the main lobby are indeed for sale! You can view all of the works by Kelly Vivanco, Denise Duong, Amy Gross and Nicole Maloof here in our online shop!

The Portsmouth Museum of Art is located at One Harbour Place (in between the Seacoast Repertory Theatre and Prescott Park). "At the Edge" and our Satellite Exhibition run thru July 11th.

Olive Tree Web Studio

I am excited to announce the launch of my website for my websites: "Olive Tree Web Studio".

I am a formally trained oil painter and a self-taught web maker -- you may wonder how this relates to Three Graces!? Well, my first site was for the gallery, and it has gracefully evolved from an embarrassment to a source of creativity and confidence.

... and of course, I couldn't resist the shameless opportunity for a plug!

Behind the Curtain!

We had a lovely night for the opening reception of the new show, "Behind the Curtain" featuring recent works by Chloë Feldman Emison, thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

I just posted a few pictures to our flickr, taken by Trisha and David. Above is Chloë, reluctant at having her photo taken at the end of the night...and below, Shiao-Ping Wang performing "Behind the Curtain"!

For those of you who didn't make it out, the show runs thru May 31st -- its a compelling body of work, featuring over 40 pieces!

And I am pleased to report that I am finally finished formatting all of the images, so all of the works from this show are also available thru our online shop!

the stage is set...

progress

To cover the brick or not to cover the brick...that was the question. And though I love it for its natural beauty, the color and busy pattern is not an ideal backdrop for paintings. So, the answer -- COVER THE BRICK! (at least some of it)

Three trips to the hardware store and we're finally making progress!

Still much to do...

Opening May 7th...

I am very excited to annouce our next show, "Behind the Curtain", an exhibition of new works by Chloë Feldman Emison, featuring three series of images...

Harlequin performers stand rather disconsolately in front of curtains with massive, sometimes surreal clasps holding them shut.

In a second series, girls sail over landscapes dotted by toy villages, held aloft by billowing red sheets.

And in the third, sad, sagging humans in simple grey shifts sprout wings, only to find themselves in chains.

Over forty images are included, ranging from 10 x 8" to 19 x 14" (framed).

"If the task of an artist today is to find an alternative to, on the one hand, the showmanship of a Saatchi artist, and on the other hand, the endless stream of pleasant but unchallenging pictures, watercolor is a daring medium to choose. These works on paper, with their relatively small scale, lend themselves to close looking rather than attempting the bold, big presence of much of modern art. Some of the images impinge on the naive; they feature girls with messy hair and quaint if slightly bizarre clothing. They may remind the viewer at times of children's book illustration. Yet in many cases their themes are quite adult: fear, frustration, pain." (Patricia Emison, Professor of Art History at the University of New Hampshire)

For many years Chloë was a self-taught artist, although she grew up in the company of artists at the University of New Hampshire and is now majoring in Fine Art at Williams College. She had her first solo show at age 16, and has always favored watercolor or pen and ink. In the fall of 2009, she was was awarded Best Mixed Media at the Cambridge Art Association by Joseph Ketner II of Emerson College.

"Behind the Curtain" opens May 7th, with an opening reception from 5-8pm in conjunction with the 1st Friday Gallery Walk.