It is an accepted verity that size affects how we perceive the world around us. The huge oak trees of the country and the towering skyscrapers of the city are certainly impressive and hard to disregard. But what of the intricate perfection of ant hills, the smooth surface of a tiny pebble? The latter, describing an intimate
world of closeness and understanding, is what the art show, "Small Sizes, Precious Pieces" at the Sherry French Gallery in Chelsea--November 29th - December 30th-- has to offer.
The gallery's collection of "small but mighty" paintings and sculptural works, the artists included in this show visually explore the indisputable relationship between size and intimacy. In these artworks, the sense of revelation and invention is instantaneous and not over-considered. These smaller-scale art works are seductive as purely precious entities, while also making a statement of acute awareness in a unique way, evoking a sense of comfort and familiarity.
Artists participating in the show include Sheila Cantrell, Fred Danziger, Judy Evans, Jacqueline Gnott, Anne Johann, Curtis Kelly, Janet Laird-Lagassee, Victor Leger, Nancy Bea Miller, John Morrell, Cora Ogden, Jeanne Rovegno, Michael Schweigart and Jeffrey Vaughn.
Realist painter, Sheila Cantrell encourages her art viewer to take a closer at
ordinary objects that possess a beauty we often overlook. "Often the key to
finding beauty nearby is simply to take a closer look," says artist Cantrell. There
is one object that Cantrell selects for her paintings and all other objects
are based around the primary. Color and size become important once the main
object has been selected. The realism in her paintings comes into play with
the idea of small sizes and the intimacy between objects.
Janet Laird-Lagassee is another realist painter participating in the show.
Artist Laird-Lagassee has an interest in taking objects and introducing them into a
new still life environment; it is in this way that an object comes to life in a way never
imagined via her paintings. "Still life and landscape, one is not more inspiring than the other,
but rather each presents its own story, its own challenge; each generates its
own moment in time and place in the universe," says artist Laird. Each object
narrates a story via painting through which Laird-Lagassee is the author. The mood of each
painting is designed through the color scheme, tone, value, composition that
Laird-Lagassee chooses to use. The subjects of her paintings are picked for
the level of inspiration that they offer; whether a pill of stones, a flower,
or a patch of pumpkins, artist Laird-Lagassee is able to bring out the best in all
things. "When I am painting, I am 'in' the painting, part of its moment in
time and place of existence."
Nancy Bea Miller is another artist participating in the art show Small Sizes, Precious Pieces. So naturally placed are the still life set-ups that Miller paints, yet they suggest elegance and planning that only this artist could create. "I love the way things look, and I am sensitive to the emotional resonances that certain things have for me." Though thriving in their color combinations, Miller chooses the objects in her paintings based on the mood and the emotions they evoke. "I think I never outgrew a childhood fancy: that everything around me, dolls, plates, cups, houseplants etc all had their own inner life, their own set of feeling and thoughts," says Miller of her subject matter and oil on canvas paintings. Every space has life and every object is active and plays a role in the genuinely simplistic nature of the paintings of Nancy Bea Miller.
So take a closer look at these precious art works presented at the Sherry
French Gallery. They are sure to delight the senses in the grandest
of ways.
