UPCOMING: Solo Exhibitions for Stanley Bielen and Mallory Lake
William Baczek Fine Arts
William
Baczek Fine Arts, in Northampton, MA is pleased to announce the opening of two
new solo exhibitions. Stanley Bielen
will be showing new still life oil paintings and Mallory Lake will be exhibiting
new pastel paintings of still lifes, landscapes and steam trains. The
exhibition will run concurrently and be on display from Wednesday, October 8
through Saturday, November 8, 2014. The public is invited to an opening
reception with the artists on Saturday, October 11 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Stanley Bielen’s still life paintings are as much an exploration of paint as a medium as they are depiction of their subjects. Using a wide brush or palette knife on small panels we see can the process of constructing a painting. Bielen notes about his own work: “The attraction of the visible world and the attraction of artist materials, in my case oil paints, is what has guided my whole working life. The pleasure of seeing expressed through the medium of oil paint. The subject matter has not changed however; my approach to my materials constantly evolves. (A show is a good opportunity to evaluate where the work is and to gain insight into where it might want to go.)” There is a feeling of improvisation in Bielen’s paintings. Because they are painted so loosely, Bielen can never predict how the final paintings would look. Upon closer inspection, we can see under-painting in a sepia or brown ochre color, an old masters’ technique called grisaille. Bielen plans and prepares the composition and value of the painting in grisaille, then adds wide patches of color. Although imbued with a sense of freedom, Bielen’s paintings have a resolve that makes them at once deliberate and unexpected. Expertise in any field takes many hours of effort to look so unplanned and simple in practice.
Stanley Bielen lives and works in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and teaches at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His paintings are in many important public and private collections including the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Mallory Lake has always been interested in transitional lighting on the landscape and her scenes are set at early morning, at sunrise or at twilight when the fading light defines the contours of the landscape. Mallory Lake’s new pastels also show an interest in the nocturne and we see streets lit in the evening, train cars, houses and cafes glowing from within. About her recent interest in the early morning or evening light Mallory Lake says “To convey atmospheric lighting effects; quiet reflective waters, a gentle mist, details half-suggested in the morning light, a warm glow at the close of the day, I employ simplified detail and composition, a soft focus, and the dominance of a single hue in the tradition of the Tonalists, who rejected intricate detail in favor of a more intimate expression.” Mallory Lake creates her paintings using hand-made dry pastels, which she purchased in Paris at the same shop that Degas got his pastels when he made his iconic ballerina paintings.
Mallory Lake exhibits her pastels nationwide and her work is included in many important public and private collections, including the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Mass., the Boston Public Library and the Rose Art Museum at Brandies University.
Selections from this exhibition and other works by gallery artists can be seen on the gallery’s web site at www.wbfinearts.com. For more information about this or upcoming exhibits please call the gallery at 413-587-9880 or email at [email protected]. The gallery is located at 36 Main St. in downtown Northampton, Massachusetts and is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 – 5, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 – 8 and Sunday from 12 – 5.
Stanley Bielen’s still life paintings are as much an exploration of paint as a medium as they are depiction of their subjects. Using a wide brush or palette knife on small panels we see can the process of constructing a painting. Bielen notes about his own work: “The attraction of the visible world and the attraction of artist materials, in my case oil paints, is what has guided my whole working life. The pleasure of seeing expressed through the medium of oil paint. The subject matter has not changed however; my approach to my materials constantly evolves. (A show is a good opportunity to evaluate where the work is and to gain insight into where it might want to go.)” There is a feeling of improvisation in Bielen’s paintings. Because they are painted so loosely, Bielen can never predict how the final paintings would look. Upon closer inspection, we can see under-painting in a sepia or brown ochre color, an old masters’ technique called grisaille. Bielen plans and prepares the composition and value of the painting in grisaille, then adds wide patches of color. Although imbued with a sense of freedom, Bielen’s paintings have a resolve that makes them at once deliberate and unexpected. Expertise in any field takes many hours of effort to look so unplanned and simple in practice.
Stanley Bielen lives and works in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and teaches at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His paintings are in many important public and private collections including the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Mallory Lake has always been interested in transitional lighting on the landscape and her scenes are set at early morning, at sunrise or at twilight when the fading light defines the contours of the landscape. Mallory Lake’s new pastels also show an interest in the nocturne and we see streets lit in the evening, train cars, houses and cafes glowing from within. About her recent interest in the early morning or evening light Mallory Lake says “To convey atmospheric lighting effects; quiet reflective waters, a gentle mist, details half-suggested in the morning light, a warm glow at the close of the day, I employ simplified detail and composition, a soft focus, and the dominance of a single hue in the tradition of the Tonalists, who rejected intricate detail in favor of a more intimate expression.” Mallory Lake creates her paintings using hand-made dry pastels, which she purchased in Paris at the same shop that Degas got his pastels when he made his iconic ballerina paintings.
Mallory Lake exhibits her pastels nationwide and her work is included in many important public and private collections, including the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Mass., the Boston Public Library and the Rose Art Museum at Brandies University.
Selections from this exhibition and other works by gallery artists can be seen on the gallery’s web site at www.wbfinearts.com. For more information about this or upcoming exhibits please call the gallery at 413-587-9880 or email at [email protected]. The gallery is located at 36 Main St. in downtown Northampton, Massachusetts and is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 – 5, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 – 8 and Sunday from 12 – 5.
William Baczek Fine Arts
