The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC) is pleased to announce an
exhibition of paintings by Jane Wilson (Land/Sea/Sky) and photographs by
John Gruen. Jane Wilson's paintings are meditations on time, place, weather, memory,
experience and perception as much as they are landscapes. For well over half a century, John Jonas Gruen has been observing
artists.
Jane Wilson's paintings Show
extraordinary skies anchored by low, horizontal planes of land and
ocean. Wilson's works convey an evocative power and subtle beauty.
Drawing on sources as diverse as French Impressionism, Dutch landscape
painting, and Abstract Expressionism, each painting resonates with the
artist‚s own deeply individual language.
Most of Wilson's paintings are created in her New York City studio, as
she draws upon recalled sensations and experiences over direct
observation. A painting does not begin with a preconceived notion of
what the final image will be but instead is developed intuitively and
unhurriedly towards completion. The basic format varies significantly
from one painting to the next. Several horizontal bands delineate
horizon and strips of land, light, and water. She works downward form
the top of the canvas, using a limited range of colors. The undercoat
provides the internal light of the painting and helps to dictate what
will follow. Layer upon layer of pigment, as many as 30 to a painting,
are added to provide translucence. Wilson typically works with one
complimentary tone over another and these layers cause her canvases to
resonate with light.
Jane Wilson was born on a small farm outside Seymour, Iowa in 1924. She
and her husband John Gruen moved to New York City in 1949. She was a
founding member of the now-defunct Hansa Gallery, one of the first
successful painters‚ cooperatives, and a member of the group that
eventually became know as the Second Generation Abstract
Expressionists. To support her painting habit, Wilson had a seven-year
career as a fashion model, appearing in glossy magazines such as Vogue
in the early 1950s.
She has been president of the National Academy of Design, chair of the
Columbia University art department and a member of the American Academy
of Arts and Letters since 1951. She is represented by DC Moore Gallery
in New York City.
ABOUT JOHN JONAS GRUEN
For well over half a century, John Jonas Gruen has been observing
artists. As a photographer, critic, and composer, his encounters with
the most influential figures of the New York art scene have made him an
experienced chronicler of personalities in the late 20th century.
Gruen's work in the 1950s for a well-known photo agency put him into
contact with some of the greatest photographers of the day, including
Brassai, Robert Doisneau, Bill Brandt, Sabine Weiss, and Man Ray. These
personal and professional contacts and Gruen‚s subsequent work as an
art, music and dance critic for leading publications such as the New
York Times, Vogue, ARTNews, and Dance Magazine gave him exposure and
experience.
Captured in rich duotone images that reflect both their prominence and,
at times, their vulnerability, the artists, musicians, and writers
presented in his latest book, Facing the Artist, amount to a
photographic collage of contemporary American creative genius. As
critic Justin Spring writes in his forward: "In Facing the Artist, Gruen
presents a body of work characterized by a splendid openness and
generosity of spirit. His unique touch of gentleness and honesty may
well explain why so many of his subjects, even the shyest or most
difficult seem so relaxed, so sincerely please to be photographed by
him."
Indeed, this gentleness and honesty are compellingly reflected in early
shots of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Larry Rivers, Leonard
Bernstein, Samuel Beckett and Willem de Kooning as well as later images
of Jennifer Bartlett, Bruce Nauman, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Roy
Lichtenstein, William Wegman and Magdalena Abakanowicz-to name a few.
He is the author of 13 other books: The New Bohemia; The Private World
of Leonard Bernstein; Close-Up; The Party's Over Now; The Private World
of Ballet; Gian Carol Menotti: A Biography; Eric Bruh: Danseur Noble;
The World‚s Great Ballets: People Who Dance; The Artist Observed; Keith
Haring: the Authorized Biography; and Flowers & Fables.
Gruen was born in Paris, France and received his early education in
Berlin and Milan. The son of a European-based journalist, Mr. Gruen
continued his education in New York and in Iowa, where he received his
BA and MA degrees from the University of Iowa, where he met his wife
Jane Wilson.
The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC) offers opportunities for
experimentation and for the presentation of art in all disciplines, and
provides a forum for critical dialogue between emerging and established
artists and their audiences. The MAC supports the artist's role in
society, cultivates that relationship through education and innovative
programming, and stands as an advocate for creative freedom. The MAC
has been operated by Dallas Artist Research and Exhibition, Inc., a
non-profit arts organization, since October 1994. The MAC is a member of
Dallas Art Dealers Association.
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