Saturday morning cartoons to midwest landscapes: Robert Atwell at the Simon Gallery in Morristown
Posted by Kevin Coughlin on January 11, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Friday night will be a good warmup for next month’s Art Around the Park gallery walk in Morristown. Two of the six participating venues are hosting show openings.
The Simon Gallery on Bank Street will host a reception from 6-8 pm for Robert Atwell, whose second solo show at the Simon runs through Feb. 12.
Robert Atwell enamel on aluminum, on display at Morristown's Simon Gallery.
Mary Ellen Simon, who operates the gallery with her husband Harry Simon, has this to say about the artist:
Atwell’s work explores the convergence of digital and analog media and how they relate to the visual dialog of contemporary painting. He attempts to create work that is intentionally ambiguous with a focus on color, shape and surface. The work is inspired by numerous ideas which include: suburban housing projects, consumer culture, old Saturday morning cartoons, digital graphics, natural phenomenon, and the flat open landscapes of the Midwest.
Mr. Atwell captures a variety of expressions through the interactions within these compositions. There is a distinct movement in each work and the layers of color in each smooth arrangement draw the viewer into the depths beyond the surface painting. The traditionally figurative combined with his expressive minimalism creates very specific, at times isolated spaces in these enamel paintings on aluminum panel.
Robert Atwell grew up in Nevada, Iowa. In 2002 he graduated from Iowa State University with an MFA in integrated visual art. He lives and maintains a studio in Menomonie, WI, where he is currently an associate professor of art and design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
A couple of blocks away, meanwhile, Gallery Egan will host a 7 pm reception for Philadelphia painter Kimberly Martin. The event was rescheduled from last week because of wintry weather. Kimberly’s show extends through Feb. 1, the night of the next Art Around the Park walk.
Morristown’s first gallery walk, back in November, included the Simon and Egan galleries, the Gallery at 14 Maple and an exhibition at the Hyatt Morristown’s Eclectic Grill. Next month’s tour will add the lobby of the Gensler architectural firm at 10 Park Place and the Atrium Gallery at 10 Court Street, along with a free shuttle bus and a prix fixe menu at the Eclectic Grill.
Harry Simon modeled the walk after Philadelphia’s First Friday open houses. He is hoping to make Morristown the premiere arts hub in New Jersey.
