A Landscape Show
Henry Coe, Robert Dash, Andrea Sherrill Evans, Erin Fostel, Wolf Kahn, Eugene Leake, Raoul Middleman
MARCH 16 - MAY 7, 2021
OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, APRIL 3rd, 11AM-5PM
C. Grimaldis Gallery is pleased to present A Landscape Show, featuring seven artists with unique perspectives on the role of the landscape within Contemporary Art.
The work of Eugene Leake offers a look into rural Maryland from an inquisitive and admiring eye. His perception of our natural world focuses on atmosphere, expression, and movement, and of course an absolute mastery of painting. As a late pillar of the Maryland Arts Community, Leake’s work lives on to inspire the viewer to devour and enjoy painting. Wolf Kahn’s vibrant pastel drawings also showcase the lyricism and emotion that brings a landscape to life. By combining realism with the passionate immediacy of Abstract Expressionism, Kahn’s work harnesses the energy of human-nature interaction.
A Landscape Show features work by Baltimore-based artists Andrea Sherrill Evans and Erin Fostel, who bring the idea of the landscape into a contemporary context. Evans’ silver point drawings from her “Invasive Series” portray images of foliage along Mid-Atlantic roadways. She is interested in the way in which humans influence the natural world, introducing invasive species of plants that come to define a region’s landscape. The growth of these species is slow and unconscious, creeping into our idea of what Maryland looks like. Evans highlights the beauty and simplicity of nature while interjecting the existence of man through moments of disturbed negative space. In a similar attention to steady environmental change, Fostel’s “Baltimore Series” depicts the unconscious architectural elements of the Baltimore landscape. Rendered in graphite and charcoal, she draws buildings which have existed throughout time but have since been repurposed. Rather than showcasing Baltimore’s tourist traps, Fostel reveals the real city landscape, its perceivable imperfections with its dark moments of majesty. These drawings act as “vessels for grief” in the artist’s attempt to mourn the loss of her father, a Baltimore architect who always pointed out the beauty and intricacy of the city’s underrated structures.
Henry Coe’s plein air oil paintings capture the mundane and the sublime of the Maryland landscape. His attention to realism and luminosity evokes feelings of nostalgia for a simpler time when nature provided sustenance and entertainment alike. Through Coe’s gaze, documenting the natural world engages the viewer with a sense of time and place. The exhibition also includes watercolors by Baltimore-based artist Raoul Middleman, combining natural elements with the artist’s unrestrained expression. Middleman’s marks spontaneously dance across the page to highlight the active gestures in the world around him. Robert Dash’s pochoir prints play off of this whimsy. As an avid horticulturist, Dash illustrates gardens, waterways, and pastures, while drawing illusions to their inhabitants through the inclusion of pathways and picket fences. Dash’s landscapes offer a rich depiction of idyllic terrain and flora.
A Landscape Show: Artist Conversation
Wednesday, April 21st, 6:00PM EST on ZOOM
In conjunction with C. Grimaldis Gallery's current group exhibition A Landscape Show, we hosted a virtual panel conversation with Henry Coe, Andrea Sherrill Evans, Erin Fostel, and Raoul Middleman to talk about their studio practices and answer questions about the role of the landscape genre within Contemporary Art. Each participating artist is based locally or regionally, and offer new perspectives on the changing Mid-Atlantic and Baltimore City landscapes.
