Maynard’s Gallery Seven presents “Absence of Color” with works by Catriona G. Baker, Alicia Dwyer (of Harvard), Arthur J. Garrone and Joel Moskowitz.
Artists working in color are taught to get the values right, the harmony of light and dark is often the foundation that supports color and most paintings will translate well into a monochrome or black and white image.
In this exhibition, four artists come together with paintings and drawings to celebrate the power and harmony that can be achieved by working only with darks, lights and midtones.
Arthur J. Garrone’s charcoal drawings are dark and mysterious. “Night Barn,” with its murky sky and ominous trees, draws the viewer in to what feels like a scene from a Grimm fairy tale. In contrast, Joel Moskowitz’s graphite pieces have one solitary object floating on a background of white air. He is able to achieve a three-dimensional feeling on a two-dimensional plane, and the optical illusion that his pieces are spiraling or rotating toward you.
Alicia Dwyer paints ethereal white dresses suspended in front of a jet black void. Her bodiless garments appear still and full of motion simultaneously and are eerily beautiful. In Catriona G. Baker’s drawings, the artist’s hand is ever present. She creates dark mass and a light airiness out of long sweeping lines and strokes of charcoal as can be seen in her piece “Gus Jumps.” There is a depth to her work that transcends the subject.
In all of this work, it can be seen that something very meaningful is gained by the absence of color. There is a purity in the elegant balancing of tonality and it can be understood as reality having been stripped down to its bare essentials.
The exhibition runs from June 3 through July 19. An artists reception will be held Saturday, June 14, from 7-9 p.m. (Guests are asked to wear black and white.)
For information about Gallery Seven, at 7 Nason St., and upcoming exhibitions, call 978-897-9777 or visit gallerysevenmaynard.com.
