A Glimpse Ahead is primarily a Figurative exhibit with a focus on the Summer Season. The artwork includes Ocean Swimmers, Surfers, Pool scenes, and Waterscapes. It is a curated selection of work aimed at creating a sense of peace, calm and joy.
The exhibit will feature the artwork of Hawaii Artist, Carol Bennett, San Francisco Minimalist, Jeffrey Palladini, Texas Pop Artist, Mitch McGee and Westport Artist, Dale Najarian.
Water flows through the art of Bennett, "I throw myself into the water almost every day- it grounds me, the body floats and the mind drifts. The "Swimmer series" has followed me over the years, resurfacing and evolving. Presently I'm working on wood, I'm intrigued by wood grain swirling like water and how that ground moves through the swimmer's form". The exhibit will include works on Wood panel, as well as a series on paper with a painted wood grain background.
The Pool Scene series by Palladini features Male and Female Swimmers on lounge chairs – bringing to the viewer of a sense of relaxation and ease. We will also feature a new Birch wood dimensional figurative work by Pop Artist, Mitch McGee.
The exhibit will feature several new abstracted waterscapes on canvas and wood panel by Najarian.
Carol Bennett is one of the few artists I know who really captures what it's like to be in...and move through the water. She is a native of Los Angeles, who has spent the last 20 years living in Hawaii in Kaua'i. Her work is a meditative journey through both the water and through life. She is intrigued by how life continues to flow and change, being both in the moment and timeless. The viewer will experience being in a state “flow” – where the currents of the ocean suspend life and self, and the unexpected floats to the surface.
Bennett’s fascination with the swimmer imagery began when she was living in Los Angeles and swimming at the LA Athletic Club. According to Carol, “The floor beneath the pool, with its ethereal skylight, was an underwater observation room...used by Olympic coaches in the 1920's. I would feel like a voyeur, watching the swimmer's private time and drawing in their beauty. I became the swimmer I observed in the images I later created.”
Bennett’s work has been featured in many solo and group exhibits throughout California and Hawaii including a 2007 solo show at the First Hawaiian Center at the Contemporary Museum of Art (Honolulu) and a 2018 exhibit, "Making Waves" exhibit at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Her work was seen alongside April Gornik, Agnes Martin, Kiki Smith, and Pat Steir (to name a few), as well as a solo exhibit, “Networking & Water”. She has been featured in Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, CT Cottages & Gardens Design Guide, Ocean Home Magazine and the New York Times. Bennett’s artwork has also been featured in Designer Showhouses in Westchester NY and the Hamptons, and is part of public and private collections around the world.
Mitch McGee, the influences for this Texas came from the style of Pop Art legend, Roy Lichtenstein. According to McGee, "Lichtenstein with a Red Bow was the first piece that started me down this rabbit hole. In an almost tongue-in-cheek fashion I wondered how I could take one of his pieces and recreate it in another medium." From that start, McGee began to create his own style and establish his unique voice. Today, his creativity exists in that space between painting and sculpture. In his Birch series, McGee uses pieces of wood, each illustrated, hand cut and stained or painted to create dimensional pieces. Each painting is filled with thick layers and subtle shadows. There is a warmth created by the imperfection of the birch and its grain that creates an emotional connection. Each painting is a labor of love, taking 40 to 50 hours or more to complete.
His work is public and private collections throughout the world including TV journalist Serena Altschul, Pamela Ford, and the Feld Family (Ringling Bros).
Dale Najarian received her BFA from Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia. She began painting in watercolor in 1998 and over the years experimented with other mediums including acrylics, mixed media, and oils. In 2005 she relocated with her family to Singapore for several years and traveled throughout South East Asia, New Zealand, Australia and China. Dale's photographs taken during this time are a source of inspiration for many of her landscape paintings.
According to Dale: "Art is my passion and a huge part of my everyday life. My work is a colorful translation of everyday scenes and objects. I often work from life or in my studio using photography as a general guide. Once I get the feel for the painting, I abandon the actual image and create from within to develop a recognizable yet simplistic painting the viewer can identify with." Dale paints in her studio in Westport and her art has been exhibited and collected throughout the US and UK.
Jeffrey Palladini’s unconventional portraits evoke feelings of sensuality and euphoria. While the San Francisco-based artist studied at California State University, it was in Florence that his true creative spirit was pulled forth from the beauty that surrounded him. Now his modern figure paintings breathe life with vibrant colors and flowing brushstrokes. Unlike many portrait paintings, Jeffrey minimizes the amount of detail and information allowing the viewer to gain intense suggestions of emotions in an instant. The simplicity is reminiscent of Alex Katz.
Palladini’s works have been exhibited in galleries across the United States and internationally, and is in public and private collections worldwide. In 2012, Asterisk SF Magazine's Art & Design Issue named him one of San Francisco's top 20 artists. In 2013, one of his paintings was added to the art collection of the Four Seasons in Hawaii.