Co|So Exhibitions :: 23rd Annual Student Show

On display in Co|So’s Red Room Gallery, the 23^rd Annual Student Show is generating a great deal of excitement for a few talented young artists.  On view thru March 29^th, the exhibition features eleven works of various subject matter and media including oil painting, photography, ink on canvas, pyrography and spray paint.  The works were selected by jurors David Brown, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs of Graduate Programs at the SMFA and Miriam Stewart, Curator of the Collection of the European and American Art Division at Harvard Art Museums.

Jeremy Horseman, Triptych: The Helicopters, oil on panel, 72 x 24

First prize was awarded to Jeremy Horseman for his Triptych: The Helicopters, a narrative focused on the origins and outcome of violent disputes.  Horseman’s work centers on both modern and biblical accounts of war, and questions the instinctual nature that drives lust for conquest. The subdued pallet and anonymity of the figures highlight the senseless violence and travesty of war.  Horseman’s choice to create the work as a triptych enhances the narrative:  foreboding helicopters descend upon a city silhouetted against the sickly green sky, an intimate collection of soldiers engaged in battle from behind old walls, and lastly the helicopters exit over a sea of wrapped corpses. Horseman elucidates the reference to conflict in the Middle East by including  architectural outlines of domes and minarets, in addition to the contemporary uniforms of the soldiers. Horseman’s resolution to refrain from painterly extravagance allows the somber commentary of Triptych: The Helicopters to shine.

Stephanie Owyang, Hong Kong, digital photography, 24 x 16

Stephanie Owyang's digital photograph, Hong Kong, won second prize.  In this photograph, Owyang captures the busy lifestyle of Hong Kong and conveys the over stimulation of colors, traffic, and signs that abound in the densely populated metropolis. The mood and atmosphere of Hong Kong infuse the photograph, as the viewers attention is simultaneously drawn to numerous parts of the image. The lack of negative space reflects the overwhelming feeling that an individual might experience when actually present in this environment. Owyang states that she enjoys capturing photographs that reflect her experience of the places she visits without making them about herself. The essence of Hong Kong is the visual experience of the city, and lacks an overtly personal depiction of the artist.

Brooks Turner,  Follow on Us and Hide Us, no.10, ink on canvas, 37 x 64

Fall on Us and Hide Us, No. 10 by Brooks Turner received third prize in the annual student show.  Measuring 67 x 38 inches, this large-scale ink on canvas commands the viewer's attention.  Reminiscent of dynastic Chinese landscapes, this work seemingly portrays a path that draws the viewer into darkness. In his work, Turner explores ideas such as isolation, loneliness, absurdity, and the subconscious.  The dramatic size and perspective of Fall on Us and Hide Us, No. 10 emphasizes the feeling of monumentality, and asks the viewer to contemplate his/her place in the foreboding landscape.

The 23rd Annual Student Show will be on display until March 29th in the Red Room at the Copley Society of Art.

Co|So Exhibitions :: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries

Co|So Special Event :: AD 20/21 Art and Design Fair

This weekend, March 15-18, the Copley Society of Art will be exhibiting works at the Art and Design of the 20^th and 21^st Centuries & the Boston Print Fair.   AD 20/21 will be held at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End.  A collection of work from galleries and art dealers from New England, the East Coast, and Europe will be on display and for sale at this one-of-a-kind event.  Co|So attended AD 20/21’s Gala Preview to benefit the Boston Architectural College.  At this Gala, a lifetime achievement award was be presented to interior designer, Vincente Wolf.

Co|So is one of over 30 exhibitors at the 5^th Annual Fair offering modern to contemporary fine art.  The fair also includes exhibitors who feature vintage and contemporary studio furniture, decorative arts, jewelry, and sculpture, as well as exhibitors at the Boston Print Fair.  This is the only show and sale of its kind in New England, and, as a first time participant, the Copley Society is excited to offer drawings, paintings, and photographs from a number of our artist members.

Co|So's booth is similar to the gallery, with all genres and media hung side by side to display the wide range of our artist members.  Black and white photographs by Mark Chester and Tony Schwartz will be hung amongst impressionistic oil paintings by James Kubiatowicz and Paul Schulenberg.  Abstract acrylics by Jacques Walther and Pippip Ferner are set against the hyper-realist drawings of  Kate Sullivan.  Other artist members that will be featured include: Nancy Colella, Jennifer Day, Ellen Granter, Rick Fleury, Jon Allan Marshall, Robert Pyle, and Edwin Rudd.  AD 20/21 looks to be a wonderful weekend filled with a great variety of contemporary and modern art and furniture - come stop by the booth to see what the Copley Society's artists are up to!

Follow @cosogallery on Twitter and Copley Society of Art on Facebook for photos and updates during the Fair.

Co|So Exhibitions :: Winter Members' Show: Impressions

Co|So’s newest exhibition, Impressions, showcases our artist members’ depictions of both natural abstractions as well as highly-structured, man-made forms.  High-contrast, black and white works are scattered throughout more colorful pieces, predominately featuring calming shades of blue along with vibrant reds and yellows. Presiding over the space from its perch in the center of the gallery, Peter Coes painted wooden sculpture of a house draws the eye with its sharp lines and innate sense of whimsy. Kate Sullivan’s hyper-realistic drawing of the Dresden skyline, Mary Hughes’ linear, abstract painting, and Ginny Zanger’s intricate monotypes compliment one another with high attention to detail and focus.  The obsessively detailed works are offset by the impressionist renderings of figures and landscapes offered by Robin Samiljan, LaVerne Christopher, and James Kubiatowicz.

Jennifer Day, Sesuit, oil on canvas, 36 x 36

The two largest works in the show stand out for their literal and figurative attention to the passing of time.  Jennifer Day’s oil on panel piece  Sesuit was granted second prize by jurors David Brown and Miriam Stewart.  This tumultuous ocean in black and white visualizes the movement of the water, not in a frozen moment, but in a continuously changing cycle. Sesuit is exemplary of Day’s artistic technique of allowing her painting to reach full composition through organic growth.  The artist explains that she only has a vague idea of how a piece will end up at its start; she allows the composition to adapt to her own willed impositions on the media.  Jennifer Day’s artistic vision in exploring the interaction between the visual and the emotional is strongly evident when viewing her piece.

Mary Hughes, Strata, acrylic & oil paint marker on canvas, 60 x 47 3/4

Strata, by Mary Hughes, demonstrates the artists' keen eye for detail through its repetitive, layered amorphous lines.  The painting is reminiscent of topographical maps, implying a sense of traversed space and time.  Hughes drew her inspiration for this work from her time spent studying the landscape of Ireland.  Hughes observed endless divisions within the vast landscape composed of fields, stone walls, and roads.  These boundaries and borders inspired her to “build” walls with paint.  Though her direct source of inspiration is not overwhelmingly evident, the linear boundaries formed by earthy color combinations in her work pay homage to her development as an artist.

In their various sizes, mediums, and content, the pieces of Co|So’s Winter Members’ Show represent the diversity of our artist members.  Impressions will be on view until March 29, 2012. To view the works stop by the gallery or click HERE to view the exhibition online.  We’d love to know which pieces are your favorites!

Co|So History :: James McNeill Whistler Exhibition, 1904

Let’s take a step back in time.  It’s the evening February 23, 1904 and Copley Hall opens its doors to more than 1,600 people, who have traveled to Boston to see the works of James McNeill Whistler.  The attendees of this private opening received invitations and catalogues produced to resemble those previously designed by Whistler. Included in the Copley Society Archives is an incomplete invitation to this Tuesday evening, February 23^rd 1904 opening.  According to the society’s annual report of 1904, “The invitations to this opening were, in the main, reproductions of those used by Mr. Whistler for an exhibition of his work held in London.” The butterfly insignia, located on the lower left corner of the invitation, had been a trademark signature of Whistler’s since the 1860’s.  With a stinger added as a tail, the butterfly represented the sensual and aggressive natures of both Whistler’s personality and work.

Invitation to 1904 Whistler Exhibition

James McNeill Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1834 and began his art career through drawing assignments for the United States military.  In 1855 he moved to Paris, set on the goal of becoming an artist.  Here, Whistler was influenced by a variety of international styles including French Realism, Japanese print and decoration, as well as seventeenth century Dutch and Spanish schools.  Soon after settling in Paris, Whistler moved to London and made a name for himself when his painting At the Piano was received by the Royal Academy for an exhibition in 1860. 

James Abbott McNeill Whistler. At the Piano. 1858-59. Oil on canvas. Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Whistler’s paintings give the viewer a profound sense of his ability to compose harmonious arrangements of color into thoughtful series of portraits and landscapes.  While his work can be described as subtle and somewhat classical, his approach to art was more radical for his time.  A contemporary of the Impressionists, Whistler belonged to the ‘l’art pour l’art’ school of thought:

              

“Art should be independent of all clap-trap – should stand alone, and appeal to the artistic sense of eye or ear, without confounding this with emotions entirely foreign to it, as devotion, pity, love, patriotism and the like.” 

- James McNeill Whistler

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875, oil on panel, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit

Upon hearing the news of Whistler’s death in June of 1903, and with the help of Whistler’s friends and patrons, the Copley Society began preparation for the memorial exhibition.  The artist’s personal aesthetic stretched from the invitations and catalogues to the decoration of Copley Hall, which featured Whistler’s oriental influence in the Japanese cloths, carvings, and ornaments that adorned the walls. The memorial collection featured work from every period of his artistic career from school-boy drawings until the time of his death.  The main hall contained eighty-four of Whistler’s oil paintings, while separate rooms displayed black and white works, etchings, dry-points, lithographs, watercolors, and pastels.

Image of Whistler Memorial Exhibition from the Archives of American Art

Whistler’s international status left various countries - including France, Germany and England – scrambling to procure their own collections of Whistler’s work, but it was his home state of Massachusetts and the Copley Society that secured the privilege.  The Whistler Exhibition attracted a total attendance of 41,111 by the time of its closing on March 28, 1904.  Keeping with its tradition of engaging and educating the public, the Copley Society arranged special days during the exhibition for art students, artists, and members of the press to visit free of charge. 

The Copley Society was greatly honored to hold such a momentous, and successful, exhibition for one of the most prominent American painters.

"WebMuseum: Whistler, James Abbott McNeill." Ibiblio - The Public's Library and Digital Archive. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/whistler/>.

Co|So Exhibitions :: New Members' Show 2012

Happy New Year from the Copley Society of Art!

We kicked off our year with the opening of the New Members' Show 2012, in which 34 of the 36 new members accepted into the gallery in 2011 currently have work on display. The white walls of the upper gallery are covered in paintings, photographs, and sculptures in both bright and somber hues, and range from the exceedingly large to the small. The obvious variations in sizes, genres and media exemplify the diverse talents of the newest Co|So artist members.

From left to right: Ken Northup, Sean Flood, Matt Glushien, Coleman Rogers, Ann Trainor Domingue, Pippip Ferner, Kimberly MacNeille, Derek Uhlman, Barbara Leiner, Ginny Zanger, Antonia Tyz Peeples, Cameron Schmitz, Joan DeRugeris, Linnea Toney Leeming, Jim Connelly, Bill Lane, Marilene Sawaf, Leigh Campion-McInerney, Claudia Kaufman, Tom Belkakis, Robin Samiljan, and Mary Graham.

New Members not pictured: Anne Davey, Susanah Howland, J.B. Jones, Andrea Kemler, Marla Korr, Brennan King, Diana Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Lazeren, John Murphy, Edwin Rudd, Patrick Shea, Laurie Simko, and Jacques Walther.

Attendees to the opening on Saturday, January 14th packed the gallery, eager to see works by the latest additions to the Copley Society. Linnea Toney Leeming's fearlessly painted and larger than life abstract piece Jammin' blasts the upper gallery with color, while Sean Flood's iconic 60 x 80 cityscape NYCorners anchors the exhibition with its architectural stability, compositional integrity, and urban spirit.

Linnea Toney Leeming with her piece Jammin'

Sean Flood with his work NYCorners

Co|So welcomes artists from the New England area and beyond for artist membership. Europe is represented by two of the class of 2011: Swiss artist Jacques Walther and Pippip Ferner, from Norway, who we were fortunate enough to have with us at the opening. Pippip is pictured below with her delicate yet dynamic painted drawing Summerplankton II. Boston photographer Coleman Rogers stands alongside Pippip with his energetic evocation of The Bycicle Race. Another must see of the show is Connecticut sculptor Derek Uhlman's radiant alabaster Stone Gesture, enlivened by the juxtaposition of geometric shapes carved into the natural form.

Pippip Ferner and Coleman Rogers.

Derek Uhlman with his sculpture Stone Gesture.

Large, varied and impressive seems to be the theme for 2012. Next in the queue is Co|So's Winter Members Show: Impressions, which will be juried by David Brown, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Graduate Programs, and Miriam Stewart, the Curator of the Collection for the Division of European and American Art at Harvard Art Museums. The gallery has received over two hundred submissions from more than 60 of our current artist members. This looks to be another highly successful show, and the jurors definitely have their work cut out for them!

Opening reception attendees clamoring to photograph the new members.

But until then, come see what all the hubbub is all about: Co|So's New Members'  Show 2012 runs through February 14. Click HERE to view the exhibition online. We look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Co|So Exhibitions | Ted Polomis: Recent Works

With his fourteen oil-on-panel compositions, Ted Polomis lines the walls of Co|So’s intimate Red Room Gallery with his insightful still-life depictions. Polomis’ subjects arrange themselves into three movements: a nod to traditional still-life paintings, striking portraits of singular objects, and animated paintings of nostalgic play-things, whose witty titles surprise the viewer as much as the pieces themselves.  

White Vespa
oil on panel
22 x 32

Polomis’ traditional still-life suite opens with a triad of crisp compositions in a, primarily, blue palette. In Teapot, Little Blue Inkwell, and Touch of Orange, Polomis incorporates cobalt blue glass bottles and vases, accompanied by pristine painted china. Punches of color finagle their way into the composition by way of a crisp slice of lemon here, or rotund orange there. All the objects sit patiently and classically among each other, serenely situated upon the cloth-draped table. White Pail with Apple and Three Gourds are painted with equally exquisite artistry, yet embody a heartier and more inviting presence with warmer colors and associations with harvest-time foods. 

Little Blue Inkwell
oil on panel
8 x 10

 A marked intensity of study presents itself with Polomis’ Rainbird, Acoma Vase, Nautilus, and the signature White Vespa. Instead of being placed in a well lit and bright, open space, these somber objects reside in a pool of focused light crowded by the darkness of an undefinable space. Nautilus seems to be a painterly parallel to Edward Weston’s hypersensitivity to documentation of nature's organic shapes. Each of these portraits imbue its sitter with a well-defined and regal sense of identity. 

Acoma Vase
oil on panel
24 x 24

The culminating movement of Polomis’ “Recent Works” exhibition reveals itself in his earnestly painted tableau of playful and characteristically nostalgic toys. Each set of players in Top Cop, Bureau Quacks, Flight Lines, Gee Bee, and Sky of Blue and C of Green sit atop a whitewashed wooden cabinet or shelves. There is an evidence of cared-for wear in both the objects and their environments – slight dents in the toy’s metal or chipped paint off the wood. The positioning and interaction of the objects presents each of them with pride and certainty of their role as a toy, whether it be a model airplane waiting to take flight, a cop keeping a watchful eye on a precariously positioned spinning top, ducks parading about in a row (cunningly titled Bureau Quacks,) or a toy yellow submarine containing the personages of John, Paul, George, & Ringo. These images elicit a “Toy Story” type of fascination – have we stumbled upon the playthings frozen mid-action? Or did they arrange themselves, waiting to be found? Looking up at the playthings, as if peeking up to a high shelf our hands can’t quite reach, makes curious youngsters of us all. 

Sky of Blue and C of Green
oil on panel
12 x 21

 After studying art first at Thayer Academy, then at The Rhode Island School of Design, Polomis studied the works of the Great Masters throughout Italy and thirteen other countries, before returning to New England, where he has worked as an animator and illustrator. In 1992, he and his wife founded a graphics and multimedia company, Active Image. Polomis continues to paint in his home studio in Massachusetts. For further information, visit www.polomis.com.

“Recent Works” will be on display at the Copley Society of Art thru December 24, 2011! To view the full online exhibit, visit https://www.copleysociety.org/exhibitions/current/redroom.html

Artist Feature :: Eli Cedrone

Eli Cedrone’s painterly images best capture the essence and light that exude from her subjects.  Whether painting a model's profile in a portrait, or defining the lines and shapes of a landscape, her images display both her talent and expertise as a skillful painter.

painter Eli Cedrone, CA

Having always maintained a passion for art and painting, Cedrone knew from an early age that she wanted to pursue a career in the arts.  After her studies at prominent art accredited colleges and universities in Boston and Italy, Cedrone pursued many forms of artistic employment, which included advertising and illustration. In 1990 she began a full time career in the field of her passion, no longer painting solely for the purpose of artistic expression.  Using her artistic background and education, she adapted her skills as a refined painter.  Her proficiency in illustrations and advertisements helped Cedrone master the observation of design and color in her paintings.  Best described as a contemporary realist painter, Cedrone primarily works with oils.  

Cedrone regularly submits to Co|So's A to Z shows in the Lower Gallery, After the Red Sox is currently on display. The small painting captures the ambiance of a late Fenway evening after the rush of the baseball game has subsided. To see another impressionist view of Boston, take a stroll through the Fairmont Copley where Copley Plaza hangs in the main hallway. 

After the Red Sox, oil on canvas, 14 1/2 x 12

Eli Cedrone currently teaches oil painting classes at the Hunakai Studios in Foxboro, MA. She is also organizing a workshop in Bermuda scheduled for May. Her classes and workshops give attendees a full understanding of oil painting, as well as the knowledge and skills needed to create detailed landscapes and charming portraits. All information on her upcoming workshops and classes can be found on her website: http://www.elicedrone.com/. 

Stop by the Copley Society of Art from 3PM - 5PM Saturday, November 5th to see Copley Artist Eli Cedrone in action. She will be demonstrating how to complete a portrait of a model in one sitting, using oil on canvas. Works by Cedrone will be available for purchase during this free demonstration. Top off your Saturday Newbury Street stroll by watching this vibrant artist!

Will you be attending? Click HERE to let us know and like us on facebook!