Marianne Gagnier
Marianne Gagnier Insight/Outsight New Paintings
March 1 - March 26, 2016 Opening reception: March 3, 6-8 pm
Man with Rabbit acrylic on canvas 48 x 42 inches 2016
Insight/Outsight Deathless Aphrodite of the spangled mind child of Zeus, who twists lures.... Sappho The work in this exhibition represents a return to figurative subjects, which appeared, more or less unbidden, as started these paintings. The major theme that developed turned out to be connection - that is - love. Eros, that star/bully, is just one of the kinds of love that cropped up in this work. And, having emerged out of an open-ended painting process, these subjects retain that uncertain becoming. They are embedded in a world that is transitory, fugitive, made of light, materializing and disappearing. Figures and animals face the viewer and are kindred. They are bound to each other and their surroundings. They emerge through “insight,” from memory, and often recall friends and acquaintances from daily life. They also bear a mythic and monumental cast that is not willed. These paintings also represent a turning outward, “outsight,” towards social/political concerns. The works are built of layers of acrylic paint and have a very physical development. They are scraped, the surfaces often taken down with water. They are dragged outside for a view in daylight and returned to the studio to be revised. The images are liminal, reflecting the manner in which they were made.
MG February 2016
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Couple with Birds acrylic on canvas 48 x 56 inches 2015
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Red Beach acrylic on canvas 44 x 36 inches 2015
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Horse with Sun acrylic on canvas 48 x 44 inches 2015
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Woman with Red Fish, II acrylic on canvas 30 x 25 inches 2015
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Kim with Birds acrylic on canvas 26 x 30 inches 2015
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Woman with Red Fish I acrylic on canvas 26 x 22 inches 2015
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Woman with Birds acrylic on canvas 34 x 40 inches 2015
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Man with Mallard acrylic on canvas 32 x 36 inches 2015
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Kim with Rabbit acrylic on canvas 42 x 48 inches 2015
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Woman with Red Fish III acrylic on canvas 44 x 48 inches 2015
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Aphrodite of the Spangled Mind acrylic on canvas 42 x 48 inches 2015
Marianne Gagnier has been a member of the Painting Center since 2012 and part of the New York art community for thirty years. She has had one-person exhibitions at Thomas Deans and Company, Maurice Arlos Gallery, and Prince Street Gallery. Selected group exhibitions include: Sideshow Gallery, Repetti Gallery, Western Carolina University, Haverford College, Ingber Gallery, Cedar Crest College, the New York Studio School, P.S. #1, “The Times Square Show” and “The Dinner Party Project.” She earned a B.A. at Yale University and an M.F.A. at Parsons School of Design . Her work is in numerous private and public collections. www.mariannegagnier.com
© Marianne Gagnier 2016 Photography by Rene Pierre Allain Special thanks to Kim Sloane, Liv Mette Larsen, Suzanne Montgomery, Sarah Diane McShea, Shazzi Thomas and Ro Lohin.