FEATURED ARTISTS

The Four Corners of Realism

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present its 17th Annual Solo Show for Ben Fenske! The show will be on view from August 29th - September 22nd. Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, August 29th, 6:30 - 8:00 PM.

It’s that lovely time of year, when the humidity tamps down, a cool breeze picks up, the sun remains whole past 7 pm, and the bustling jam-packed streets on the South Fork start to feel a bit emptier. After the high season of summer begins to slumber, a singular unassuming dynamo finally lands from overseas to unveil his latest series of impressive neo-impressionist paintings. Ben Fenske (b.1978, Minnesota) is known for his spectacular paintings of familiar, commonplace subjects. The moments Fenske chooses to capture are seemingly simple; pretty flowers, a sumptuous lunch setting, or a woman seated beside a window, reading a book, or taking an afternoon nap. Outdoors, he paints her walking a dog along the hills of Tuscany, standing along the Harbor’s shoreline, fixing up her hair, bending over to collect seashells, or again, taking an afternoon nap, but this time enmeshed in the summer grass. These moments could be overlooked at first glance, yet it’s Fenske’s use of urgent, slap-dash brushstrokes, a vibrant mix of colors, and a continuous investigation of the colors cast by natural light that result in overwhelmingly mesmerizing paintings.

With the Tuscan countryside at his doorstep, it would be difficult to not feel drawn to the outdoors. However, Fenske doesn’t paint for the perfect summer day that Italy so often offers up, he searches for the interesting light effect that the atmosphere may create, whether it be a foggy morning with a storm on the horizon or a blindingly bright sunny afternoon. Last year, Fenske seemed to be taken by the darker earth tones and muted neutrals around him. This year, Fenske digs heavily into his lighter yellow, green, and blue paints for a new take on familiar themes.

Fenske’s largest work of the show is a composition we have not yet seen from him. A woman (his muse, and our painter, Amy Florence) walks with their dog Buddy, in a vineyard near his house. Although breathtaking, Fenske stops short of idealizing the scene—Amy wears a coat and boots, and Buddy trots briskly ahead, almost escaping being painted into the canvas. Fenske is able to capture that this is just another day, trudging into the brisk air to take the dog for a walk—and along the way, passing through the mesmerizing landscape of where they live and work.

In summer now, Fenske turns his attention to a feast of cantaloupe and wine (along with the ever-present blue teapot)—speckled with light through a canopy of foliage. One can’t help but want to be sitting there, at the place Fenske has set for the viewer, diving into the fruit being warmed by the sun and cooled by shade. Just a suggestion of the hilly landscape beyond peaks through the breezy trees.

Even with the most picturesque atmosphere outside his door (Window) during the majority of the year, Sag Harbor is never far from Fenske’s mind. Sag Harbor Panorama was created at his farmhouse in Tavarnelle, just from memory and pictures. While many of Fenske’s paintings are snapshots of everyday life, inviting you to take part (with an open door, or empty seat at the table) this panorama envelopes the viewer, making them feel as if they are really standing at the shore of the Sag Harbor bay.

Fenske melds painting from life and memory in Yellow Dress and Beach, where he no doubt had Amy posing in Italy, and imagined her onto a North Haven beach. In Yellow Dress we are presented with a proper lady, dressed in a flattering summer frock, arms raised behind her head as she pulls her air off of her neck. This gesture, common in the summer heat, exhibits a striking stance of contrapposto; a stance which connotes beauty, as famously captured by Gustave Courbet in The Woman in the Waves (1868), or Edgar Degas in Woman Combing her Hair (1890).

Beach, on the other hand, demonstrates an unsightly posture, where the figure bends over, unclothed, reaching down to pick up seashells. This pose is certainly one anyone can relate to yet is not common as a subject for a major painting. One may recognize this stance in 19th century realist paintings, where painters took to farms to capture laborers gathering wheat as in Millet’s The Gleaners—or the early 20th century paintings from soviet painters Alexei and Sergey Tkachev, (Laundresses 1957). Fenske, however, showcases a nude woman bent over, not engaging in hard labor but on the contrary, taking her time, collecting seashells at her leisure. Fenske is most interested in the way light hits her bent body, accentuating muscles rarely pronounced. Like a student, Fenske is transfixed by the anatomical forms within the human body.

Another two paintings present figures engaged in a beloved pastime, the mid-day nap. One takes place indoors; a nude woman resting comfortably atop a bed; her room a soft hue of yellow. The overall mood of Bed is quiet, peaceful, inert. The Red Dress on the other hand, showcases a frenzy of elements, from the dappled light surrounding the figure, to the motion of the grass vibrating with the breeze. Taking her nap en plein air, she has to cover her eyes from the intensity of sunshine.

New compositions of Lilacs, poppies, and daisies will be unveiled, as well as a series of local scenes that are yet to be painted! Fenske will spend the next month in Sag Harbor, and we are eagerly awaiting his next visions.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present our fourth annual Solo Exhibition for local expressionist painter, Darius Yektai. This exhibit will be on view from Thursday August 8th through Sunday August 25th. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Thursday August 8th, from 6:30-8:00 PM.

One question most asked by visitors to the gallery is, “Are these artists local?” and although the Grenning Gallery represents many artists who are international or out of state, we are delighted to host to several exceptional local artists. Darius Yektai (b. 1973 Southampton, NY) is our local classical expressionist, whose work is often inspired by his immediate surroundings; the ocean, flowers, his home in the Long Pond Greenbelt, and often, the viscosity of paint itself.

This year, Yektai offers new pieces of his ever popular and infinitely mesmerizing “Waterlily” paintings, as well as a bold continuation of his abstract “Falling Flower” series. However, what we’re most excited about is a new series of paintings from his recent travels from colorful Costa Rica to snowy Chamonix, France.

The bold Costa Rica paintings were the first new paintings we saw at his studio in January. Every Grenning staff member agreed, these would be shown in Yektai’s Solo Show in August.

Surfing is one of Yektai’s favorite pastimes, and you will find him at the ocean in Sagaponack every morning in summertime. Every winter, Yektai departs our frosty beaches in search of warmer sand and satisfying surf. Costa Rica has become one of his favorite spots to retreat to, and this year he generously invites the viewer to join him on his tropical spree.

Large, bold flowers molded by his recognizable swaths of paint overlay scenes of everyday life in Central America. In Nicoya Street, we’re greeted by a local vendor selling drinks from a cooler. Figures mill about in the background, tending to their own separate matters. A dirt bike is spotted outside a building just beyond our vendor, kickstand engaged—a preface to the next painting in this series Costa Rica Rider.

Here, a figure motors up a road flanked by sumptuous greenery on a naturally picturesque sunny day. Again, gigantic pink flowers eclipse the entire scene…perhaps a way for the artist to stamp his mark upon a foreign place he’s grown to feel at home within. In both compositions, Yektai splats thick, oily paint atop his landscape in a way which adds to the atmosphere – it’s as though we can feel the humidity standing on the sidewalk in Nicoya Street, and smell the dew-covered jungle as we speed along the road in Costa Rica Rider. Even though he is venturing outside of his usual subject matter, we are still seeing this new setting through a lens that is unmistakably Yektai’s.

There are several spaces of Darius Yektai’s mind that are yet to be discovered by his viewers. One style of painting only accounts for a tiny corner in the artist’s broad-roaming psyche. Although most know him for his audacious handling of vibrant paints and experimental media, at his core, he is an enthusiastic student of art history; and most abstract artists in history began painting from what they saw, resulting in a traditional landscape or portrait. There is a stylistic spectrum that Yektai is constantly fluctuating within—on the one end, traditional naturalist paintings of recognizable scenes; and on the other end, a wild abstract field of shapes and color which allow the viewer’s mind to wander. First View, Liberia Airport falls into the latter category. There is no resin, no splatter, no enormous flowers intersecting the scene. However, we get a clean and quiet snapshot of a view he yearns for each winter – a view that, upon first sight, confirms that’s he’s once again in his happy place – a warm place to surf.

Fast forward to nearly 6000 miles Northeast to the majestic mountains of Chamonix, France. Again, Yektai generously offers us another observation upon arrival to his destination with First View of Switzerland through the Alps by Train—this time on a grand scale. Whereas First View Liberia is a scene from a small airplane window, Yektai hunched over in his seat catching what sunlight he could as the plane raced to a halt, First View Switzerland displays Yektai’s impressions as he was situated on a slow-moving train with big windows, allowing the artist to soak in the majesty around him. Although not entirely naturalistic in execution, Yektai shows unusual restraint by utilizing only one medium throughout the entire canvas, and the overall composition is legibly digestible as a conventional landscape; albeit mystical and impressionistic. Furthermore, this painting recalls the delicate stain and scumble technique of ancient Chinese scroll paintings on rice paper.

Snow appears to be a natural subject for Yektai’s expressionist and textural style of painting—as displayed in his series of paintings from the French Alps. Layers of fluffy snow translate almost effortlessly to the luscious white, lavender, blue, and even red paint depicting the subtle shifts in light and shadows on the mountains. In Powder Day a skier turns quickly in the same way Yektai uses his paint brush—with a quick and easy whip—and with similar effects: a spray of snow (paint) in the atmosphere (panel). This time, the splatter effect implies a frigid environment – cold and surrounded by flurries.

In Lunch on the Slope: Courmayeur, we’re placed atop the snow-covered crag, with Yektai in the foreground bundled in his parka and carrying bags of ski equipment. Compositionally, he is very successful at putting the viewer IN the snow; gracefully directing our eye from one subject to the next.

Yektai is turned away from the viewer, his attention fixed on a black dog standing in the snow, just ahead. His ski-companion dressed in a vivid scarlet snowsuit, leads our eye up to the venerated Ristorante Chiecco, emphasized by colorful flags which invite skiers inside for a luxurious break from the elements and fine Italian cuisine. The forest in the background is made up of jagged grey vertical lines. The raw canvas peeking out from beneath the “snow” underscores a sense of distance.

Obviously, pronounced, thickly painted flowers are still very much a staple in Yektai’s oeuvre. This year, we have two 60-inch-square paintings of White lilies. In Large Lilies Square, buttery white paint blossoms from dark green stems ascending from the lower right. The background is a joyous abstraction with bright yellow and cool teal hues. In Large Lilies Jute Square the same white flowers reach out, this time from the lower left. In fact, the two large paintings could make up a single diptych and resume as a consistent single composition. Quite the reverse from the former, this canvas takes advantage of the raw jute, which makes up the most of the flower’s backdrop.

An exciting new series out of Darius Yektai’s studio this year, shows reflections of nature and people—a continuation of the Waterlily theme, but now more than ever, highlighting the reflectiveness of the water represented by the poured resin on top of and underneath the oil paint. It becomes muddled where nature stops, and the reflected image starts. In Skimming Tern, a bird flies along the surface of a pond, a glittery trail of paint in its wake amongst an otherwise nearly untouched canvas—save for the long-limbed drooping branches of willow trees. The branches reach across the center of the diptych, confirming to us this is one painting made from two canvases. The lower canvas presents the reflected image of the bird, amidst a neutral palette of waterlilies. Of course, a layer of reflective resin bolsters this claim.

Created within the artist’s Sag Harbor studio, The Patio Lesson celebrates Yektai from all angles; large tulips in a white ceramic vase, a distant landscape with trees on a hill, and ghostly outline alluding to a figure seated on a piano stool. A wide-checked tablecloth adorns the surface set for the tulips, each line holding a variety of colors mixed within the brushstroke. Yellow leaves seem to sprout from beneath the table, signaling a setting abundant with florae. A distant landscape beneath a blue-sky peaks out of the upper right background, like a window to beyond from the foreground. This entire composition is Yektais response to Henri Matisse’s 1916 painting “The Piano Lesson” which presents the artist’s living room, a still life atop the piano, seated figures to flank both sides, and a large window, presenting a slanted view of flat “green” allows for only a peek at what dwells beyond. Matisse, who is known for his latent use of vibrant colors instead uses a monochromatic palette of greys. I believe Yektai takes inspirational composition from this 1916 painting, but his palette is inspired by an earlier Matisse circa 1905, The Joy of Life.

Furthering this vision of bright, joyous hues, Yektai embraces the fauve’s vigorous color palette in his latest Falling Flower series. Aptly titled, these abstractions are emphatically whimsical, presenting flowers scattered amongst slapdash lines and shapes which blot atop and stain the clean white background.

Summer 2024 Events

This summer, Grenning Gallery has a fun season of events planned!

We are hosting studio visits to our local artists, a painting workshop, a short-film screening, and of course, our opening receptions!

Please note that our Opening Receptions will be held on THURSDAYS this Summer!

Opening Reception: Hunt Slonem Thursday, July 11th, 6:00-7:30 PMGrenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborHunt Slonem’s first Solo Exhibition at the Grenning Gallery.Cocktails and Painting Preview: Melissa Franklin SanchezThursday, July 18th, 5:30-7:30 PMGrenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborMelissa Franklin Sanchez is in the Harbor and has new work to unveil before her exhibition this October!Studio Visit: Edwina and Maryann LucasSaturday, July 20th, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PMLucas Studio (RSVP info@grenninggallery.com for address)Join us for coffee at the studio of local painters Edwina and Maryann Lucas.Studio Visit: Nick WeberThursday, July 25th, 6-8 PMWeber Studio, East Hampton (RSVP info@grenninggallery.comfor address)Join us for refreshments and music at the studio of local painter Nick Weber.Opening Reception: Darius YektaiThursday, August 8th, 6:30-8:00 PMGrenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborThe 5th annual Solo Exhibition for local expressionist painter Darius Yektai.Opening Reception: Ben Fenske Thursday, August 29th, 6:00-7:30 PMGrenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborThe 17th annual Solo Exhibition for 21s t-Century impressionist Ben Fenske.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present our first Solo Exhibition for world renowned artist, Hunt Slonem. This exhibit will hang from Thursday July 11th, through Sunday, August 4th. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Thursday July 11th, from 6-7:30 PM.

2024 has been a banner year for Hunt Slonem. The famed artist continues to be celebrated with extensive exhibitions from esteemed institutions like the Albany Institute of History and Art in New York, The Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans, and opening this November, the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Moreover, the San Antonio Botanical Garden is hosting “Huntopia,” the first-ever garden exhibition from Slonem—allowing viewers to step into a whimsical world of plants, florae and Slonem’s larger than life sculptures. The Grenning Gallery is thrilled to be a part of Slonem’s successful year with our first Hunt Slonem Solo Exhibition opening Thursday July 11th.

Hunt Slonem returns to Grenning Gallery as the sole exhibiting artist in July with varying configurations of his iconic black and white bunnies. He, of course, elaborates on this subject in various colors, sizes and compositions. It goes without saying, these simple flick-of-the-wrist rabbits have become synonymous with Hunt Slonem – some say it’s his signature motif. These bunnies often sit atop one another, squeezing together tightly as if in anticipation for a family photograph. Although repetition is clearly a vessel for Slonem’s creative output, each bunny embodies its own individual identity.

Slonem continues the theme of individualistic identity in “Rare Species,” where he points out a singular winged beauty in purple, beside a flock of blue and white butterflies of similar stature, all atop a regal gold backdrop.

Brand new to the gallery, is the standout painting “Ocelots Salvador” – wild spotted felines sit and saunter within the confines of a flat pink backdrop adorned with blue spots. A maximalist composition accentuating bold patterns, colors, and the vivacity of wild animals. A picture which at first glance is fun; playfully pink and polka dotted, is also threaded with an air of danger. These rare, gorgeous wildcats are carnivorous predators – not the cuddly kitten that sleeps at your side.

Hunt Slonem mixes his own pigments, a specialty being his metallic paints. A recipe unique to his own studio, the gold paint Slonem uses shimmers with distinct excellence, vivifying his subjects with resplendent charismata. In “Dendrobians” Slonem casts a sprouting of tall orchid stalks pollinating atop a gilded setting. In “Dashing” and “Yard” Slonem shows us two sets of couples—a pair of owls and a duo of rabbits—in similarly striking gold paint.

Hunt Slonem has said: “Nature is divine and unique, and I’m thrilled to be on this planet.” A sentiment that reigns throughout his entire exhibition. The thrill is palpable.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to present our first exhibition of Summer 2024: Siren Song—featuring work from a group of painters, both local and international, who are enchanted by the wondrous and powerful sea: Daniela Astone, Terry Elkins, Edward Minoff, and Michael Kotasek. This exhibit will hang through Sunday, July 7th. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Saturday, June 15th, from 6-7:30 PM.

The irresistible music of the Sirens—the hybrid women creatures from Homer’s Odyssey who lure male sailors to their death, and subject of Margaret Atwood’s 1974 poem “Siren Song”—is the inspiration for this exhibition. The sea has endless allure. Engaging all senses, the sea soothes the soul – a refreshing and healing natural resource.

The “Hamptons” has its own allure, like that of the Sirens. Every weekend hundreds of people flee the city and trek 100 miles east to be near our seas. The Hamptons offers the relief of fresh air, conserved land, and boundless water.

The anchor artist for this exhibition, Daniela Astone presents surrealistic compositions of figures floating in water—or enveloped in a fog-like beast (The Kiss)— mixing a foreboding eeriness with enchantment, while Michael Kotasek’s painting conveys the relationship between man’s curious search for knowledge and the perpetual possibilities beyond the earth. Terry Elkins and Edward Minoff, remind us of the seductive beauty that the East End promises. These paintings invite you into a mysterious world of pure splendor, without the consequences of following Homer’s Sirens.

After years of intense studio work, painting only from life, Daniela Astone (b. 1980 | Pisa, Italy), now finds inspiration from her dreams. The Kiss is a standout tour de force. Of course, it recalls Gustav Klimt's famous 1908 painting of the same name but instead of an ornately fashioned couple on a gilded background, Astone unveils a mysterious creature enveloping and suspending a pure and striking nude figure in mid-air atop a natural canvas. The shadow figure appears ominous until you notice the nude figure leaning into her partner, her hands lightly caressing, and leaning on the amorphous creature. Her body is relaxed, and her eyes closed; she is safe in it’s embrace. As a classical artist who paints the nude figure every day, Astone is masterful at depicting women at ease in their natural bodies rather than women self-conscious of their nudity—posing but fearful of exploitation at the same time—a theme in art history that continues today.

This juxtaposition of a real human form amidst a nebulous entity is exquisitely executed. Extreme, deep black takes over from the top right of the canvas. Yet, it is obscure where it’s form ends – the way a cloud will dissipate, unstructured edges fall away. Note where the nude’s calf becomes softly swathed in dark matter in sweeping strokes of black paint, alluding to Japanese ink paintings. This pitch-black presence dilutes to grey along the left. Furthermore, droplets of it’s form rain down into the ether, where the artist has delicately signed her name.

Astone, being Italian, often meditates on her peninsula’s heritage and it’s role in contemporary life. The myths of her ancestors consistently loom over everyday life. It was these treasured tales which helped civilization form and cope with the common struggles and mysteries of life. In Deep Down, Astone conjures figures floating down, en-masse, towards a fictional lost bronze Roman artifact. The figure in the foreground leans-in to whisper something in the ear of the broken off head—further connecting the now and the then. What story she is telling the ancient sculpture, is up to the viewer. Once again, Astone skews her realist execution by leaving brushstrokes undone along the lower left, reminding the viewer of her hand in the composition.

For Dancing Love, Astone brought professional dancers into her studio and let them improvise as she painted them. She decided to paint this particular position the dancers held for only a moment in a larger canvas because she loved the way the male and female dancers' bodies intertwined in not a typical freeze-frame grande jete or lift. She placed the dancers in deep water in her canvas as part of the larger surrealistic series of figures floating through ethereal space. Les Deux Moités or The Two Halves, continues this theme. A man and a woman, fitting perfectly together with ease, share a tender embrace. Their bodies float above the sea floor and glow against the dark blue background.

me and you walking on the brick pathis a painting of a dream Astone had one night; of her and her daughter walking together on the sea. Visions of the yellow brick road come to mind as well in this (literal) triangle composition. Travelers on the brick path look for answers, for home, for inspiration.

After growing up in the American South and receiving his BFA from Sam Houston State University, and an MFA from the University of Houston in Texas, Terry Elkins (b. 1951 | Mississippi) was drawn to the East Coast to forage his career as a painter. When Elkins first came to the South Fork of Long Island in the late 1980’s, the culture was slow-paced, humble, and centered around an economy of independent fisherman. Every day, Elkins would witness Baymen set out to sea in their dories to cast nets offshore to earn a living from their catch. Decades later, that lifestyle has sadly dissolved due to huge offshore fishing fleets, and the crunch of 21st Century conventions. Nonetheless, Elkins paintings are devoted to this humble vision of the Hamptons; where a dory can lay along the beach unlocked without fear of tampering or theft; and the serene beauty of the local landscape is more than sufficient to satisfy one’s way of life.

After nearly 4 decades of living on the East End, Elkins avows that “there are many beautiful places here, and I will honestly say I’ve discovered most of them.” Wainscott Pond, Late Summer is an interpretation of what Elkins says is “one of the last and most panoramic vistas on the East End. It’s close to where I live, and sometimes, I feel like painting is just an excuse to be there.” Barcelona Point is another one of those secret spots. Secluded and hard to get to if you don’t know the way, but he promises it’s well worth the excursion. Unspoiled lands, fortunately protected by conservation easements, native ecosystems are allowed to thrive unhindered by human contamination and development.

Edward Minoff b. 1972 | New York, NY)returns to the gallery delivering expert realism from his arduously trained hand, with a new series of seascapes. Growing up in NYC, Minoff spent his summers on Long Island Beaches, soaking up the sun and sand while he could. It’s no wonder that the sea has become his main inspiration in painting. This new series, however, focuses on the ocean’s mightiness. In Emeralds, grey skies hovering above rich green waves dictate a stormy temperament; the crash of the waves make impact with fortitude. A current so strong, the seafoam sees no moments of relief to dissipate to clarity. Thin films of water reach toward the viewer along silvery sands, appearing so delicate, so inviting. Yet beyond is a commanding tide that only the strongest swimmer could match.

Finally, we are lucky to receive a new painting from Michael Kotasek (b. 1962 | Upstate NY). A gigantic full-moon radiates against a deep blue night sky. A sandy hill in the foreground houses one single structure, an observatory: a man-made edifice used to observe terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. The title of the painting, “Hello?” empashises this curiousity of man. Kotasek positioned these subjects in an exaggerated way; it’s as if one could run up to the roof of the building and reach out and touch the moon. Kotasek has the unique ability to bring us to a place that is almost familiar but has no name, a sort of no-man’s land—a world of his own creation that we as viewers are enticed to decipher and discover.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to unveil CARMODY | PERSSON a two person show celebrating the textural palette knife paintings from Australia’s own Emily Persson; juxtaposed with Kelly Carmody’s new series of glowing bayscapes inspired by Shelter Island’s quiet season. This exhibit will hang from Saturday, May 11th through Sunday, June 9th, 2024. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Saturday, May 11th from 5:30pm-7:00pm, both artists will be present.

In October of 2023, Kelly Carmody (b. 1977, Massachusetts) jumped on a rare opportunity to spend a month on Shelter Island, entirely solo. The busy season had just ended, and all the summer visitors had departed. Carmody found herself on the pristine beaches alone, with only the still waters and crisp autumn air to accompany her. It’s a breathtaking revelation, when one is finally able to absorb all the beauty this small island between the North and South Forks has to offer. Silence; save for the wind, the birds, squirrels, and deer crunching on newly fallen leaves in the forest. This time of pensive reflection and solitude inspired Carmody to paint her surroundings, with as much purity as she could possibly convey onto the canvas. Carmody even concocted her own traditional gesso, made of marble dust, pigment, and rabbit glue for this new series. Unlike a pre-primed canvas, this new surface produced an absorbent ground, which generated a smoothing effect as the paint was layered on to the canvas. The result is a rich colorist yet, almost transparent quality to the painting.

The composition for Pink Reflection began with a plein-air pastel drawing, with Carmody sitting on the bridge at Dering Harbor. In the pastel, we see a colorful sky with clouds scattering just after sunset. The horizon is intersected by masts from an assortment of sailboats. In the foreground, water runs out from beneath the bridge she sits upon, flowing into the harbor, the current accentuated by a simplistic design of little V shapes. When Carmody translated this plein air sketch onto a canvas, she made decisions to omit a lot of what she saw on site. She emphasized the stillness of the harbor, where the pink sky casts a bright reflection onto the water’s surface. The sailboats intersecting the horizon were entirely omitted, heightening a sensation of peaceful contemplation. The movement in the foreground is only annotated by her echoing the pattern of arrows pointing us toward the direction of the water’s current. What started as a plein air pastel, sparked by an interesting light effect, resulted in a studio painting that emanates light itself.

Throughout the rest of the series, light is the prominent subject. The changing of seasons meant that Carmody was able to experience a different atmosphere, and subsequently light effect, each day. The milky blue of Shelter Island Evening and the warm orange of Orange Clouds are the same location at different times of day. Carmody’s paintings demonstrate how, in a matter of minutes, light can completely transform a scene.

In Spring Still Life, Carmody emphasizes the light being the painting by showing no shadows. By getting rid of the shadows that should be there, Carmody individualizes each object, and celebrates the simplicity of color and shapes in a flat plane.

Emily Persson (b.1991, Australia) returns to the Grenning Gallery with an enchanting body of textural scenes from her home in Melbourne, Australia. Persson joined the Grenning Gallery roster in 2019, with a few paintings in our “Thick and Wet” exhibition from 2019. We sold out of her work, and she has spent the last four years painting for solo shows at galleries in Australia; Wentworth Galleries of Sydney, The Moree Gallery of New South Wales, and Manyung Gallery of Victoria. We are thrilled to finally have new work from Persson, who is a multi-generational painter with roots in Brisbane, and we are beyond excited that Persson will be travelling all the way from Australia to join us for the opening reception!

Persson works primarily with a palette knife, in fact, the same knife her grandmother painted with. This tool aids in creating the long depth of field we see in her landscapes—with objects in the foreground physically popping off the canvas and features in background melting away with one swipe. Unlike Carmody’s exploration of distilling canvases into light effects, Persson magnifies the various textures that the world offers.

In Tree Line Sublime, the largest work by Persson we’ve shown in the gallery so far, the painted bark not only visually represents the look of the bark, but physically represents its rough and varied texture as well.

Persson’s clouds are ones you want to reach out and touch due to her work with the palette knife, smoothing the white paint like icing on a cake. “It Was Nice” is a glorious frenzy of clouds—the sky takes over three quarters of the composition. Abundant white paint slathered onto the canvas meet shadows of grey and blue in a spectacular maze of billowing vapors. Beneath is a patchwork quilt of green paints demonstrating the lush, verdant hills of her homeland.

Although both Carmody and Persson paint the natural world surrounding them, their different inspirations, methods of painting, and styles highlight their individuality as artists—resulting in a dynamic exhibition we are delighted to present to the public on May 11th!