SOLAR FLARE
presented at Courtyard by the Marriott | April 5 - July 14, 2024
Solar Flare offers a vibrant dialogue between the works of Cathleen Hughes and Gilvan Nunes. Cathleen Hughes’ new series of paintings, “Solar Angle” offers an homage to the movements of light, water, and human activities throughout Philadelphia’s Navy Yard itself. Hughes alludes to the passage of time and visible light spectrums through shifting, angular compositions and dynamic geometries. In contrast to the linear rhythms of Hughes’ paintings, Gilvan Nunes’ ceramic vases and plates are an explosion of flora and fauna. Each of Nunes’ compositions acts as a lush microcosm that celebrates themes of growth and biodiversity through renderings of real and imaginary life forms. Acting as visual counterpoints to one another, each artist reflects a vision of complex patterns of life, recording cycles of transformations unfolding beneath a shared sun.
Cover image: Gilvan Nunes
Cornelia & Cardinal, 2023
Ceramic
13 x 14 x 6"
$1,600 Opposite: Gilvan Nunes Promises, 2023
11 x 9 x 7.5"
$1,200
CATHLEEN HUGHES
“These new works represent my continued interest in space, time, and matter along with scale. ‘Solar Angle’ reflects the vibrancy of the environment at the Navy Yard, where my husband was an electrical engineer for 40 years. I would like to give a nod to all he has done and to the beauty of the ever changing Navy Yard.”
Opposite:
Cathleen Hughes
Solar Over Water, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 48 x 2"
$1,000
Right (detail):
Cathleen Hughes
Solar Angle 5, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 17 x 1.5"
$750
Hughes has created 150 murals across the city for the Mural Arts Program over the last 20+ years. Her abstract paintings have been exhibited internationally and belong to numerous private and corporate collections. A Philadelphia native and a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, she now resides in Fishtown. Hughes’ works illustrate her pursuit of educating and promoting peace through art.
Left: Cathleen Hughes
Solar Angle 2, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 17 x 1.5"
$750
Opposite (left to right): Cathleen Hughes
Solar Angle 4, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 17 x 1.5"
$750
Cathleen Hughes
Solar Angle 6, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 17 x 1.5"
$750
Opposite: Cathleen Hughes Exhibition view
Left to right:
Cathleen Hughes
Solar Angle 3, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 17 x 1.5"
$750
Cathleen Hughes
Solar Angle 1, 2024
Acrylic oncanvas
40 x 17 x 1.5"
$750
