John Bonner: People: Public, Private

McGowanFine Art announces the opening of “John Bonner: People: Public, Private” featuring recent paintings of John Bonner. The show will run from April 23 – May 24, with an artist’s reception on April 26 from 5 to 7 PM. This show is free and open to the public.

Originally from England, John Bonner currently resides in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He paints what is immediately around him – often familiar, pubic spaces.  “My hope is that viewers will often identify the places as ones they may have seen or visited themselves or, if not the actual place, something very similar, and see them in a new way”.  He often includes items in his paintings that are typically left out, such as satellite dishes, phone lines, parked cars, and trash. Bonner’s scenes lend significance to the ordinary.  “It’s important to me to acknowledge and embrace the truth of what is actually there”.

Bonner’s subject alternates between buildings and people. In his recent work, he focuses on people. His recent paintings are reminiscent of the Ashcan School artists -- such as Henri, Sloan, and Hopper – artists painting during the early 20^th century, known for portraying scenes of daily life.

The view from his office window in Boston informs Bonner's painting style, capturing snapshot-like compositions of people in the urban environment.  Bonner shoots high definition video of the area, capturing freeze frames, and later collages together likely scenes in his studio. The stroke of his paintbrush seems to be as fleeting as the glimpse through his window. He clearly revels in the creative act of putting the paint to canvas, but he is also a master of gesture and color. His quick strokes capture the distinct walk of a woman in flip flops or the hunched concentration of a phone-texter. His use of glazes perfectly captures the lit neon traffic signs ubiquitous on every corner or the feel of wet pavement on tar or cement.

Boston International Art Show 2012

Amanda and I headed down to Boston on Thursday, November 15 to set up our booth for the 16th Annual Boston International Fine Arts Show. McGowan Fine Art has not attended since 2004 so this was a big adventure for both of us.

It was a day of packing up two vehicles with art, pedestals, shrink wrap bins and all of the tools necessary to make transactions, unloading all the artwork, then arranging and hanging the artwork on the walls.  We had time for a late lunch and then back to the booth to put on our party clothes for the preview that evening.

Some of the fun of attending these events is the opportunity to talk with other galleries. We are able to indulge in a little shop talk and art world gossip, trade tips or just get a feel for the market in other parts of the country. Our booth neighbors were great.  From Russia With Art of Cambridge, Massachusetts shared photos of their pampered Westie. The women from Pride Gallery of Virginia had a beautiful display that Amanda has tucked away some ideas from.

It is also great to hear from the fair goers. Many approached us and said we had the best looking booth. It is gratifying to know that the artists we carry are well received by so many. People really responded to the new street scene Unloading by John Bonner. Vernalis by Gary Haven Smith was also a conversation starter. The portrait and still lifes by Stoney Jacobs,  kinetic sculptures by Bruce Campbell and bright abstracts of Catherine Bartlett Hirani were other favorites.

Saturday and Sunday were busy days at the fair with many people wandering through non-stop. We had a chance to play with the new ap that Amanda downloaded for her phone. Using Square we were able to run credit cards through her phone...with people using their finger as a stylus to sign on the screen. It was easy, fast and not nearly as complicated as calling in a transaction. My how things have changed since I last did an outside show!

As Sunday wound down many of the galleries started to pack away extraneous materials and get ready for the big move out. For all the time and care Amanda and I put into assembling the booth, we were able to disassemble it in less than 20 minutes. I think our efficiency was enhanced by our desire to get home after four 12-hour days. Unfortunately we were not the only ones to want to get home. We waited another hour for space to park in front of the building and  porters to help us schlep the art back out to our cars. You can see a photo of us lounging in front of our mountain of art. It gave us a little more time to chat with dealers. Some were starting drives back to Virginia or further that night. They are braver and hardier than I!

Thanks to all who visited and sustained us while we were there.

Trio: John Bonner, Ken Greenleaf, Lucy Mink

McGowan Fine Art announces the opening of “Trio”, a group show featuring the work of John Bonner, Ken Greenleaf, and Lucy Mink. This show brings together three artists who paint in a similar color palette, but apply the paint in different ways. The show will run May 1 – June 1, with a reception taking place May 4, 5 to 7 PM. The reception is free and open to the public.

Originally from Colchester, Essex in England, John Bonner depicts local New England scenes, primarily coastal landscapes -- from his present hometown of Marblehead, Massachusetts, to the historic seaport of Portsmouth, NH. He includes glimpses of the sea in his paintings, even if only hinted. Bonner chooses to depict less familiar views – the back of old farm buildings, with weathered clapboards and dilapidated window panes, an unassuming side street, or a rooftop view. He has the ability to capture beauty in these humble subjects, lending significance to the ordinary. Bonner begins his process by working from photographs he takes himself on location, thinly applying glazes and painting with broad strokes, with a raking light and crisp, contrasting shadows. As he approaches completion, he brings the canvas to the original locale, and completes the painting on site. This process allows Bonner to get details, like the meticulously painted clapboards and rich colors of his painting, “Farm Buildings”, just right.

John Bonner has exhibited throughout New England. One of his paintings was recently selected for display in Monserrat Embassy as part of the Art in Embassies Program, Washington, DC.

Shapes fascinate Maine artist Ken Greenleaf. Previously working in larger scale for public works, Greenleaf has created smaller pieces for this show as part of his “Gauge Series”, to encourage more personal interaction. “These small colored pieces exist to be looked at individually by one person at a time. Each is a private event”, says Greenleaf. His geometric shapes are elegant in their simplicity. Twisting and turning, they defy expectations of how seemingly flat objects relate on a two dimensional surface. The shapes have movement, playfully interacting with one another like a tangram puzzle. “They are visual thoughts of masses and planes in space, cut loose from the weight of materials, allowed to click and spin and resolve, or not, into a temporary tableau of color”.

Ken Greenleaf has exhibited throughout the U.S., and is included in numerous private and public collections such as the Portland Museum of Art and the Farnsworth Museum in Maine, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Unlike Ken Greenleaf’s hard, defined edges, Lucy Mink’s work is raw, with ambiguous shapes and patterns. Her process involves layering paint, adding, deleting, scratching, and sometimes sanding the surface – editing until she is comfortable with the final product. Mink’s imagery stems back to sketches in her high school notebook – curvy lines, geometric patterns, and bulbous forms. Her titles, such as “Sometimes I Feel Uncomfortable and Prefer to be Alone and Look Good” or “I Hope I Always Recognize My Brother When He's an Adult” is a reflection of internal experiences and situations. She says, “My paintings are a visual diary of my life. I can look at a painting, and know what was going on in my life at that time. The titles give me words to go with the diary. It’s like a little bit of poetry I get to do”.

Lucy Mink recently moved from Syracuse, NY to NH. She has exhibited throughout New York and New England, and recently received the Pollock-KrasnerFoundation Artist grant.

John Bonner, Bits Of Sea

McGowan Fine Art announces the opening of “Bits of Sea" featuring the paintings of John Bonner. The show will run from May 18- June 18, with an artist’s reception on May 21 from 5 to 7 PM. This show is free and open to the public.

John Bonner finds his inspiration in the gritty seaside towns of the North Shore of Massachusetts Bay. The wind roughened clapboard, houses perched on harbor side hills and elusive views of the ocean through historic homes are his chosen imagery, but it is the thinly applied glazes of paint and broad strokes which are the true appeal of his paintings.

Sewall Street Fall Over Spring is the quintessential Bonner scene. Painted clapboard has lost its vivid color and milled lines through exposure to the ocean. The colors are muted and edges lost, but the expanse of blue sky with billowing clouds brings freshness to the scene that might otherwise be missing. The bright blue sky glints off of windows and reflects on the wind coarsened homes. Long shadows cast between the closely built homes and randomly arranged telephone poles bring a strong sense of place to these pieces. These can only be paintings of a Northern New England town. As in Sewall Fall, Harborview Over Porch provides a small glimpse of the ocean placing these scenes firmly on the coast.
These rugged scenes give Bonner ample opportunity to ply his craft. In the small gem Fallen Spruce, he uses rough oil washes to imply fences or wispy branches of a tree. By not wasting the viewers gaze with detail he calls attention to the heightened morning light and strong structure of the buildings. “It captures my informal nature,” says Bonner. In Wild Blue Yonder the artist puts this informal nature to work with bold strokes in the blue sky and unusual perspective looking past a house to the sky beyond. These are paintings to remind you of home, but then take you beyond to a place of color, movement and light.