Urban Light
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Opening Reception March 25th, 2023 4pm-6pm Show runs from - March 25th, 2023 - May 20th, 2023 |
(Click above image for press kit)
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Artist - Phoebe Gilman
Statement
The loneliness of the current American landscape motivates my work. I am drawn to off-center compositions in urban settings like Baltimore. When choosing locations to paint, I look for ways the sun and technology move through and across the buildings. The traffic lights and telephone wires strung over the empty buildings show a world being swallowed by the reality of modern life. I apply oil paint in multiple layers to build the surface up slowly. The addition of wires and signs adds yet another layer, signaling to the viewer that the scene doesn’t end at the edges of the picture plane. By not including words or numbers on signs, I hope these images can evoke memories of any number of locations.
In another sense, my work expresses a wish for a revival of community. I use light and shadow as a means of pulling the viewer in close, since they can be seen across the room. Though we tend to think of shadows as secondary to an object, they often become the subject of my paintings. Imposing shadows of infrastructure twist through otherwise banal settings. I’m interested in shadows because they are transitory, making a bold attempt to dominate for a fleeting moment. This echoes the current state of isolation we feel as a society and our desire for meaningful connection.
In another sense, my work expresses a wish for a revival of community. I use light and shadow as a means of pulling the viewer in close, since they can be seen across the room. Though we tend to think of shadows as secondary to an object, they often become the subject of my paintings. Imposing shadows of infrastructure twist through otherwise banal settings. I’m interested in shadows because they are transitory, making a bold attempt to dominate for a fleeting moment. This echoes the current state of isolation we feel as a society and our desire for meaningful connection.
Biography
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Phoebe Gilman received an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and an MSAE from Queens College. She worked as an art teacher in White Plains City School District for over thirty years before retiring in 2018. After relocating to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she began her most recent project of painting in-between urban spaces. Phoebe has previously worked as the curator of The Al Oliver Children’s Museum in Queens, NY, in addition to curating exhibitions at the Hudson Center for Art and Photographic Resources and at Gallery 22 in Peekskill, NY. She co-founded Upstream Gallery in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, where she also produced several community shows.
Her paintings have been exhibited in the Katonah Museum of Art, Westchester Community College Center for the Arts, and Catskill Art Society, where she had a site-specific solo installation of found art paintings entitled Save This Too in 2017. Her painting was awarded Best in Show in the juried Small Works exhibition at the Garrison Art Center in 2016. In Lancaster, her juried work sold in the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd Auction for Artists and Collectors for the Demuth Museum and at the Longs Park Amphitheater Foundation Auction in 2022. She received the top award Best of Show at Juried Lititz Fine Art Festival in 2022. Phoebe’s recent work emphasizes the urban landscapes of the Mid-Atlantic region, primarily Baltimore, New York, and Lancaster City, where she currently lives with her husband. |