The ‘Knotty Girls’ exhibition opened with a well-attended artists’ reception on Sunday afternoon, Father’s Day, at Atelier Newport. Both exhibiting painters, Renee Levin and Jennifer Day, were in residence to warmly welcome visitors.
The artists’ work is balanced beautifully in scale and skill. Jennifer Days’ monochrome clouds and waves are so realistic, one wonders if they are indeed photographs. Only up close can you see the brush strokes of the artist. And Renee Levine’s remarkable ropes, chain links and oysters are bold pieces with a silken quality, making hard and rough objects appear soft.
About the Artists
Artist Jennifer Day spends her time between Corsica and the Cape, where she and her husband are avid swimmers. Her inspiration for painting is the drama of water’s liquidity without the infinite options of applying local color. To achieve this, she uses black oil paint on top of white gesso. Her process of scraping back black oil paint to find the light underneath is an intuitive process. Jennifer also explores the ephemeral form of clouds, which are in fact, another form of water. “I work between two opposites: the order and geometry of the picture plane versus the challenge of the nebulous and the impulse of nature to escape the plane altogether,” says Day.
Artist Renee Levin is best known for her modern depictions of coastal natural objects. Her large-scale paintings allow her to emphasize the nuances, patterns and textures of these objects while celebrating their unique beauty. Each painting bears witness to her calm and meticulous process. There is a playful juxtaposition of light and shadow, which create depth and movement in her work. Levin fuses a world of polish with grit, painting elements of her objects with perfect smoothness, yet adding harsh textures overtop creating a surprising harmony of modern, contemporary paintings. Levin’s work was featured in Vogue in 2021.
About Atelier Newport
The gallery is centrally located on Bellevue Ave and is founded by Bobbie Lemmons, a a New Yorker who has lived in Newport for the last nine years. “As a curator and owner of a contemporary gallery, it was my intention to introduce contemporary, abstract artists to Newport to bridge a gap in the arts. Our gallery offers a more urban point of view to collecting art.”
Knotty Girls
June 17 – July 22, 2022
Atelier Newport
200 Bellevue Ave
Newport, RI 02840
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