In the past few years, Brainard Carey has interviewed a number of artists, writers, architects, curators, museum directors, and poets, including Flavin Judd, Marina Abramović, Mary Heilman, Robert Storr, Nancy Spector, and more. Learn more.
On November 15, 2024, Brainard Carey sat down with artist Robert Szot to discuss Szot’s solo exhibition, The Picturesque Survival Of Other Days.
Richard Keen, who lives in Dresden, Maine, remembers first visiting (Little Long Pond), in 2015, taken by his future wife Heather Martin, a College of the Atlantic graduate who “knew about all the magical places in and around Acadia.”
Richard, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Like a lot of my generation ( Gen X ), I had a childhood with a lot of freedom and autonomy. Both of my parents, who divorced when I was eight, held full time jobs so I was free to roam around the neighborhood, run in the woods, ride my bike, play loud music – pretty much do whatever I wanted to do so long as I was home in time for supper.
My background is solidly blue collar. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a mechanic and salesman, who later helped my stepmom run their own business. We moved from the slate belt of Pennsylvania (where I was born) to Indiana (where I grew up) and although the Midwest was a fairly safe and gentle place to grow up, I never really felt like I fit in – until I found art.
Thankfully, the public schools in Elkhart, IN had decent funding for their art programs. By the time I was in high school, we had access to painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and clay – and four art teachers! That was it, I was hooked.
In college I began to really focus on visual art, though my first love of music remains really important to me. When I am thinking through an idea in the studio, I’ll often pick up a guitar and play, allowing things to sort themselves out in my head. I also like to get together with friends who play, and of course I go out to see live music at local venues. Music remains a really important part of my process.
I did my undergraduate work, receiving my B.F.A., in Illinois, then I moved back to the east coast and went for my Master’s of Art in upstate New York. After that, Maine called.
Maine has an incredible artist community and it has been an amazing place to live and create for the past 25 years. It is home. Here I have found inspiration, established my career and found friends that became family, as well as a wife and family that understand what I need to be doing as an artist.
nikki terry‘s paintings are truly captivating, blending memory and nostalgia with the thoughtful labor that goes into abstraction. Although stylistically quite different, I see echoes of the majestic qualities, experimental layouts, and unique color theories of Hilma Af Klint’s art in her pieces.
I recently attended the opening night of Nikki’s latest exhibition – held at the female-run Anita Rogers Gallery (ARG) in Manhattan – and afterwards we spoke one-on-one.
Zoe Melzer: Tell us a bit of background about the pieces on display in your recent exhibition at the Anita Rogers Gallery?
nikki terry: In her essay “Homeplace,” bell hooks says:
“I want to remember these black women today. The act of remembrance is a conscious gesture honoring their struggle, their effort to keep something for their own.”
When I first read that quote, I immediately thought about my paternal grandmother. She gave birth to 17 children. My dad was the oldest, and there were a lot of us – aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins – so many of us.
My grandmother’s house was the place where we all gathered on the weekends: there was always food; there was a lot of laughter and there were lots of arguments; and then there was my grandmother. She was our matriarch, providing for us, making sure we minded our manners and respected one another.
SHE GAVE US EVERYTHING! She taught us kindness. My grandmother taught me and my cousins what it meant to be respectful and to love one another. Without regret, I am pretty sure my grandmother held us close to her heart.
So, I wondered what I could give back to her to let her know that she is even closer to my heart – in ways I didn’t know how to acknowledge when I was a little girl – but can confidently preserve now. When I am painting, I always think of her – I think of her silence. I use my hands to paint because it is necessary that I imagine feeling her silence, and I transcribe that silence into the marks and scratches that are in my paintings.
Above: Jan Cunningham, Hant, 2023, Oil on linen, 24″ x 24″
Jan Cunningham is a painter and photographer. She lives and works in New Haven. Her work is represented by the Anita Rogers Gallery in New York.
The paintings, drawings, and photographs that make up my practice grow out of close observation of my surroundings, an awareness of the past, and memory. I am fascinated with the materiality of color and light, the mysteries of proportion and scale, and the relative and often great distance between two points in close proximity to each other. It is my hope to make present in the work the moments of equilibrium, the rhythms of disclosure, and the different realities that I discover in the act of looking and making. I hope these discoveries, evolving over time, will prompt recognition on the part of the viewer, as they have in me.
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Above: nikki terry, untitled #4, 2024, watercolor, oil pastel and oil paint on paper, 30″ x 22″
Two Coats of Paint highlights Adrianne Lobel, Shirin Mirjamali & nikki terry group show.
Exhibition opens June 5.
View on AnitaRogersGallery.com
Photo by Jon-Paul Rodriguez
MONTH IN REVIEW: May 2024
A roundup of this month’s art and design news about the makers and creators from Greece and Cyprus
Transitions was an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Tomas Watson at the Anita Rogers Gallery. It included work from 2017 to present day. This time period was characterized by radical upheaval – both emotionally and physically – for the artist.
Watson is a figurative artist that is not restricted by realism. He lived and worked in Greece for most of his career. When asked why, Watson answers, “The Greek light.”
For the closing party on May 25, the Anita Rogers Gallery transported guests to 1940s Greece with live rebetiko and smyrnaiko music, Greek food and wine, and dancing.
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Richard Keen working in his studio. Photo courtesy of the artist and Artwork Archive.
Why One Coastal State’s Landscape is Integral to This Artist’s Creative Process
Paige Simianer | April 11, 2024
“As far back as I can remember I have made sense of the world through art,” Richard says in his artist statement.
Artwork Archive’s Featured Artist Richard Keen is known for his use of color, line, and geometry influenced by the Maine coast, where he lives and works.
His commitment to interpreting his surroundings has led the artist to develop a distinctive style that resonates with both the physical beauty and the underlying geometric patterns of the Maine coastline. Through his eyes, viewers are invited to experience the familiar landscapes of Maine in a new light, where natural and man-made structures alike are reimagined.
The methods Richard uses to paint vary. Through scraping, wiping, brushing, spraying, and the use of palette knives and scrapers, he explores the tactile possibilities of paint.
Richard’s work is characterized by a delicate balance between the precision of crisp lines and shapes—often achieved through careful taping—and the expressive qualities of brushwork and other mark-making techniques.
At the heart of the artist’s abstractions is the concept of place, a tangible link to the environments that inspire him. Yet, his art leaves ample room for viewers to embark on their own journeys of interpretation and meaning.
Through his work, Richard Keen not only captures the essence of his surroundings but also offers a window into the profound ways in which art can shape our understanding of the world.
Artwork Archive had the chance to chat with Richard Keen about the significance of the coast of Maine in his artwork, his advice for artists, and how Artwork Archive helps him manage his studio and art career!
Do you have a favorite or most satisfying part of your process?
There is so much about the act of creating that is satisfying—I really, really love each part, so it’s hard to say which is my favorite.
The beginning, or the unknown; the middle, where my vision starts to become clear yet the finish line seems foggy and unsettled, with potential risk and failure; and…. the final piece which eventually reveals itself and calls you back over and over to stare in amazement that you actually created it.
Can you talk more about the significance of the coast of Maine in your identity as an artist?
The coast of Maine literally engulfed me.
From the first time I stood on its jagged shoreline and smelled the density of the fog and rockweed, to the moment I learned how to scuba dive, I realized it held the language necessary for me to build a dialogue with viewers and show them how I see the world.
I’ve been so lucky to live, hike, and work in this great state. I am also entangled in the working waterfront world and generally look for connections between my attraction to abstraction and the parts of Maine that surround me—whether they may be manmade or in my escapes into nature for mental grounding.
Anita Rogers Gallery presents ‘Transitions’, an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Tomas Watson on view through May 24. Photo: Jon-Paul Rodriguez
NEW YORK – Anita Rogers Gallery presents ‘Transitions’, an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Tomas Watson, a British artist based in Greece. The work spans a period from 2017 to the present; a period which for Watson was characterized by radical upheaval, both emotionally and physically.
On the new work in the exhibition, Watson states: “These paintings are about my life, not in a descriptive or specific sense, but rather in the form of observations that open up the possibility of a deeper, universal meaning.”
Figurative art may seem an outdated form to pursue in our times, a form already perfected long ago. There are a few contemporary artists, however, who practice this at the caliber of the Renaissance masters in terms of drawing, composition, and technique, but who are also firmly grounded in a modern approach.
British artist Tomas Watson (born 1971) is one of these. Throughout his 35-year career, he has consistently searched, experimented, and found new ways to refresh the existing forms and infuse them with the vigor of the ever-changing modern world. His work combines age-old mastery with an abstract aesthetic.
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Installation view of Tomas Watson: Transitions (2024) Photo by Jon-Paul Rodriguez
Tomas Watson Exhibition at Anita Rogers Gallery
By Dirk Petzold
New York City-based Anita Rogers Gallery currently presents “Transitions,” an exquisite exhibition showcasing the remarkable talent of British artist Tomas Watson. Spanning from 2017 to the present day, “Transitions” encapsulates a period of profound change and evolution in Watson’s life, both personally and creatively.
In his latest body of work, Watson invites viewers into a world that transcends mere representation, delving into the depths of human experience with profound introspection. As he aptly puts it, “These paintings are about my life, not in a descriptive or specific sense, but rather in the form of observations that open up the possibility of a deeper, universal meaning.”
In an age where figurative art may seem like a relic of the past, Watson defies conventions with his masterful technique and modern approach. Trained at the prestigious Slade School of Art in London, and a recipient of the esteemed BP Portrait Award in 1998, Watson’s dedication to his craft is unmistakable. Drawing inspiration from luminaries such as Degas, Turner, and Rauschenberg, he seamlessly blends age-old mastery with a contemporary aesthetic, breathing new life into the timeless art of figurative painting.
For Watson, light is more than just a physical phenomenon—it is a conduit for emotion and meaning. Whether illuminating the intimate confines of an interior space or bathing the expansive outdoors in a golden glow, light plays a central role in shaping the mood and atmosphere of his compositions. His meticulous attention to detail, coupled with a keen understanding of form and shadow, creates a sense of depth and dimensionality that is truly mesmerizing.
In “Transitions,” Watson’s shift toward exterior scenes reflects a newfound sense of openness and exploration. Bold strokes of color intermingle with subtle nuances of light and shade, imbuing each canvas with a palpable sense of vitality and energy. Yet beneath the surface beauty lies a profound sense of introspection—a testament to Watson’s unwavering commitment to capturing the essence of the human experience.
Beyond the confines of the canvas, Watson’s impact extends far and wide. Alongside his partner, he has recently established the Sigri Arts Retreat on the idyllic island of Lesvos, providing a haven for artists to nurture their creativity amidst the stunning backdrop of the Aegean Sea. As he embarks on this new chapter of fatherhood, Watson’s passion for art and education continues to inspire and uplift all those who encounter his work.
The exhibition is on view from March 6 to May 24.
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