The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) announced today
that the first in a series of art exhibitions, entitled PAINT. NOW. ,
will be held in GREEN SPACE, a new visual arts exhibition space at T.F.
Green Airport in Warwick, starting on January 25, 2012.
PAINT. NOW. is the inaugural exhibition at GREEN SPACE, a gallery at T.
F. Green Airport presenting contemporary art by artists working in Rhode
Island. The exhibition will be on view January 25 – April 30, 2012. It
features large and small-scale paintings by Ruth Dealy, Shawn Gilheeney
and Sue McNally. All three artists paint in a vibrant, contemporary
language that pushes forward our ideas of what painting can be. Each of
the artists has a distinct vocabulary and approach, emphasizing the
broad and divergent nature of painting at this moment.
Ruth Dealy paints primarily landscapes and self-portraits, responding to
never ending changes in light, time and season. Her paintings convey
what she sees while the looseness of line and the vibrancy of color
offer a world that feels both familiar and magically distant.
Shawn Gilheeney explores the diametric relationship between the built
environment and the nature world. His paintings depict structures in
varying stages on ruin, and the works themselves are made with ruinous
elements including acid and fire. These techniques, in combination with
paint and ink, result in pictures whose subject and medium are
inherently joined.
Sue McNally paints large-scale landscapes based on places she has
visited or lives near. She spends a lot of time in the locations she
paints, exploring the terrain, experiencing the weather and examining
the natural beauty that is unique to each location. Her paintings
translate the chaos and systems inherent in nature into a visceral
language of forms, colors, and patterns.
The artists were selected for exhibition by an accomplished group of
panelists: Sarah Ganz Blythe, RISD Museum of Art; Amy Horschak, The
Museum of Modern Art; Tony Johnson, Director of the Office of
Multicultural Affairs, RISD and Will Reeves, Artist.
GREEN SPACE, a partnership between the Rhode Island Council on the Arts
and the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, promotes outstanding work by
artists living and working in Rhode Island. The gallery will present art
to an ever-changing audience of local, national and international
travelers. GREEN SPACE is located in the airport terminal where the
skywalk meets the main building. Art is exhibited on both levels of the
terminal.
About the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts The Rhode Island
State Council on the Arts is a state agency supported by appropriations
from the Rhode Island General Assembly and grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. RISCA provides grants,
technical assistance and staff support to arts organizations and
artists, schools, community centers, social service organizations and
local governments to bring the arts into the lives of Rhode Islanders.
About the Rhode Island Airport Corporation The Rhode Island
Airport Corporation operates T.F. Green Airport and the five general
aviation airports in Rhode Island. A long-time supporter of public art
in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation has worked with
the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts on a number of public art
commissions for T. F. Green Airport.