September Issue 2001
Center of the Earth Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Features Exhibition by Jacob Cooley and Thomas Paquette
The Center of the Earth Gallery in Charlotte,
NC, is pleased to present the exhibition The Great Land EsCape:
Jacob Cooley and Thomas Paquette. The exhibition opens Sept.
7 and continues through Oct. 27, 2001.
Jacob Cooley and Thomas Paquette are two impressive young artists
who closely follow the legacy of some formidable painters in the
history of western landscape painting. Like their predecessors,
both artists use this academic subject matter to reflect the philosophy
and psychology of their time in strikingly new ways. There are
several points of intersections between the history of landscape
painting and the work of Cooley and Paquette. In the 19th century,
European artists of Romantic landscape painting, such as Casper
David Friedrich, J.M.W. Turner, and John Constable were known
for their dynamic depictions of awe inspiring nature as a living
presence.
At the turn of the century, the Impressionists experimented with
new perceptions of the quality of light and how non-naturalistic
color affected the mood of a scene. In the US, landscape painting
has been most closely connected with the Hudson River School,
active from 1825-1870. The Hudson River artists, initially led
by Thomas Cole, were known for creating panoramic compositions
that promoted the message of the virtue of nature. In Cooley's
work, visual connections can be made with 19th century Romantic
landscape paintings with their lush scenes and strongly captured
mood. Cooley accomplishes this by the play of atmospheric light
and the seductive lush density of sculptural vegetation.
Reference to the provocative vistas of the Hudson River School
can be made along with Paquette's explorations of timeless majestic
scenery. He couples this with a Post-Impressionist play of unexpected
and highly saturated color and energetic texture. A nuance of
urban interruption including paved roads and street signs dramatizes
the impact and places them in a contemporary framework. Both artists
record familiar landscape settings, yet reinvent them into remarkable
and inviting places for solace and contemplation. Cooley and Paquette
both share truly signature style approaches that elevate them
into the pantheon of the great landscape artists in western art
history.
Cooley, heralded as one of North Carolina's
young, rising stars, captures the sublime mysterious beauty of
the North Carolina landscape through the use of an almost revelatory
light. A hazy and diffused atmosphere is mysteriously suggesting
both dusk and dawn alike. He says of the work, "This imagery
is loaded with recollection. It is the storehouse of my memory
and identity, my sense of place. These spaces speak to me about
growing up - watching blurred, barely illuminated, overgrown landscapes
rush by the windows of a traveling car. Colors and shapes are
fleeting, intensely saturated form. They are about that energy."
Cooley has taken these familiar, fleeting scenes to create spellbinding
paintings that are as relaxing as they are contemplative.
Jacob Cooley received an MFA in painting from University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993 and his BFA from University of
Georgia, Athens. His work has been included in numerous corporate
and private collections including Duke University Museum of Art,
the Ackland Art Museum, SAS Institute, and Burroughs Welcome Foundation.
Thomas Paquette, a long-time supporter of land preservation, has served as artist-in-residence at Yosemite, Acadia, and Rocky Mountain National Parks. He regularly contributes paintings to assist the efforts of The Nature Conservancy; a privately operated international organization dedicated to the protection of the environment and wildlife. He has been featured most recently in a one-man exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art with a selection of paintings inspired from his travels in Greece, France, the British Isles, and the United States. He paints landscapes "for visual exploration, provided by nature." Paquette has traveled widely in the US and Europe, preparing sketches or small renderings at the site, and then preparing his paintings in the studio. He is admired for his dynamic and complex use of color and richly textured paintings, which can be seen in many collections.
A visiting artist to the American Academy in Rome, Paquette's work has been exhibited all over the East Coast of the US and has received critical acclaim in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor and elsewhere. His work can be seen in numerous public art commissions as well as Smith Barney, the US State Department, Arthur Andersen, L.L. Bean and many others.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 704-375-5756 or on the web at (http://www.centeroftheearth.com).
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
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