On Nature's Terms. Paintings of Thomas Paquette commemorating the 50 th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Exhibition proposal

Transcription

1 On Nature's Terms commemorating the 50 th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act Exhibition proposal image: "Beyond Mile High / Richmond Mountain, Raggeds Wilderness, Colorado", 2013, oil on linen, 60 x 46 inches

2 On Nature's Terms commemorating the 50 th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act INTRODUCTION: With the year 2014 marking the 50 th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, this exhibition commemorates a legacy of nature appreciation and conservation. Thomas Paquette's paintings are rooted in the natural world. Wilderness and untrammeled nature have figured prominently in his work since the early 1990s, when his paintings began being associated with wilder places and conservation, from his collaborations with The Nature Conservancy and other organizations, to his artist-residencies at Yosemite, Acadia, and Rocky Mountain National Parks. This exhibition features a large number of new works inspired by recent journeys to designated wilderness areas throughout the country, with emphasis on a great diversity of environments, from southwest canyons to high peaks, coasts, and lowland swamps. Paquette's unmistakably 21 st century paintings owe much of their painterly spirit to many modernist and more recent influences, while at the same time tracing back to 19 th century American painters such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, and Thomas Moran. Those painters brought to the fore the essential role of wild nature in the character of our nation, and also helped establish a sense of respect and responsibility toward it. As an example, Moran's paintings of the Yellowstone area helped convince Congress to create the first national park ever conceived. The balance of the nature and culture is shifted significantly in modern times. Instead of dwarfing civilization and settlements, wild lands are now reduced to specially restricted areas dotting the map. Still, these vibrant oases are the center of life for worlds of plants and animals. They are the worlds protected by the Wilderness Act from the machinations of civilization and agriculture. Paintings of landscape have always informed and shaped the aesthetics and appreciation of place. On Nature's Terms surveys a great diversity of American wildernesses and Paquette's paintings are visual appreciations of those bits and swaths of nature kept intact for future generations. They reflect the complexity of natural systems with seeming simplicity, through entanglements of color, line and texture. They reconnect our aesthetic sense with its primal origin in nature.

3 THE WORKS OF ART: The landscape paintings of Thomas Paquette glow with sensibilities of Romantic artists such as the American Tonalists and Luminists. Influences from other periods in art history show in these works as well, from the underlying color intensity of Impressionists and Fauves to formal inventions found in works by later modernists. Works in the exhibition are diverse in scale as well as in subject. In addition to his signature gouaches which tend to be just a couple square inches of densely worked color, large and medium-sized oil paintings provide a striking complement. Virtually all works included were recently created especially for this show. The artist spent a good portion of 2012 and 2013 gathering subject matter in a great variety of officially designated wildernesses, ranging from the Okefenokee Swamp the south, to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the north, and includes wilderness areas in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming. Different from the larger oil paintings, the diminutive gouache paintings are typically begun in the field; like the oils they are often reworked in the studio. Even the tiniest gouache is virtually never finished alla prima. Though the gouaches often serve as templates for larger works in oil, they are primarily created as independent works of art. The exhibition includes approximately 40 gouaches, matted and framed with 8-ply rag and white-stained ash frames that measure 12 x 13 inches. Included in the show may be up to twelve approximately 40- by 50-inch canvases and 15 smaller oils of various sizes. Low resolution sample images: Higher resolution: Boundary Water Canoe Area 2012, gouache on rag paper, 4-1/4 x 5-1/4 inches

4 THE ARTIST: Thomas Paquette, born in Minneapolis, 1958 MFA Painting, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 1988 BFA Painting, Bemidji State University, 1985 Thomas Paquette is represented by several galleries from coast to coast. His landscape paintings have been featured in numerous group shows and have been the subject of more than fifty solo gallery and museum exhibitions, including Fischbach Gallery in New York City; Flanders Contemporary Art and Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis; Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia; and other prominent galleries in Chicago, St. Louis, Washington DC, Maine, and elsewhere. Past museum solo shows include Georgia Museum of Art, Erie Art Museum, and Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Among his residencies and fellowships, Paquette was a recipient of a full graduate fellowship to attend Southern Illinois University. He was chosen for a three-year residency and fellowship in Miami Beach from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He was awarded an artist-residency from the Aegean Arts and Cultural Exchange (Greece) and an artist-residency at the American Academy in Rome. Since the mid-1990s his paintings have been selected for exhibition at sixteen U.S. embassies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South and Central America. Paquette's paintings include several large commissions both public and private one canvas measures thirty-two feet in length, seven-and-a-half-feet high and his paintings are in dozens of corporate and museum collections. Some biographical details are listed in the enclosed catalogues, and are more fully treated in a resume. This information and more images may be found at

5 On Nature's Terms: commemorating the 50 th anniversary of the Wilderness Act FEE: $3000 for up to 12 weeks plus delivery to and from venue. Crated. Thomas Paquette may be available for a lecture or gallery talk for additional cost of travel, hotel, and per diem fee. CONTENT: Approximately: 65 paintings. 10 large oil-on-linen paintings measuring up to 74 inches wide, some 60 inches high; 15 medium/smaller oil paintings; 40 small gouache paintings. SPACE: linear feet. (100 lineal feet of art, plus spacing.) ADDITIONAL MATERIALS: Ten 40-page exhibition catalogues. Wall labels for each painting. Interpretive didactics on foamboard. 10 soft-cover copies of the 128-page book Thomas Paquette: Gouaches. Backup information in digital format for wall labels. Condition report. SECURITY: Some of the paintings are small and possibly portable. Secure gallery space is required with responsible supervision by guards or personnel; fire protection in compliance with local ordinance; and exhibition space must be locked after hours, with alarm system or night security. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS: No direct unfiltered sunlight on oil paintings; greater protection for gouaches, with offhours light minimized. Fluorescent lights must have ultraviolet filters. Gallery and storage temperature must be between degrees Fahrenheit; humidity levels at 40 60%. HANDLING AND INSURANCE: Delivery requires two able-bodied receivers. Borrower must provide experienced handlers for unpacking, installation and repacking of the exhibition. A certificate of insurance for the value of the exhibition must be on file. A condition report page will accompany the exhibition and must be completed after unpacking and prior to repacking.

6 On Nature's Terms: commemorating the 50 th anniversary of the Wilderness Act SLATE OF EXHIBITIONS: January 17 April 7, 2014 Wildling Art Museum, Solvang, CA Late April Early August, 2014 OPEN August 30 December 6, 2014 Regina A. Quick Arts Center Museum, St. Bonaventure, NY December 14, 2014 March 8, 2015 Evansville Museum of Art, Science and History, Evansville, IN April July, 2015 OPEN/possible To inquire about scheduling, contact: Thomas Paquette 3061 East 5th Avenue Warren, PA (814)