OLD LYME – Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is hosting a new exhibition, Cirque De La Vie, featuring the work of influential American artist Bo Bartlett.

The recipient of numerous awards and international recognition for his paintings and films, Bartlett’s work has been celebrated for its ability to elevate the trivialities of everyday life to major proportions and bring its grandest expressions back down to earth, in ways that are both uncanny and meaningful. Through this play between the individual and archetypal, Bartlett pushes the boundaries of realism and the possibilities of representational art. 

Curated by Lyme Academy Co-Artistic Directors Amaya Gurpide and Jordan Sokol, the 13 paintings and drawings selected from the last decade of the artist’s career provide commentaries on the theatricality of life in alternately direct and subtle ways. Drawing from the traditions of American regionalism, associated with artists such as Andrew Wyeth, Bartlett introduces new themes and surprising compositional twists.

“Bo is a conjurer of stories,” observes Gurpide, “with an insatiable sense of wonder. His narratives are rich in content and full of color. Bo’s ability to simplify and distill  the complex to their essentials endows his work with an iconicity that stays with us and replays in our memories.”  

Cirque De La Vie is the latest in a series of original exhibitions at the Lyme Academy, each of which celebrates the history and development of representational and figurative art. The exhibition continues through June 30, 2023 at the Academy’s Chauncey Stillman Gallery. Admission is free. 

All works in the exhibition are available for purchase. Call 860.434.5232 for more information. 

The mission of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is to teach the foundational skills of drawing, painting, and sculpture in the figurative tradition. By its commitment to training students in these skills and an engagement with contemporary discourse, the Academy will empower a new generation of artists. Through its public programs the Academy is equally committed to enriching the cultural  life of the community.

Learn more about the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts by visiting  www.lymeacademy.edu.

OLD LYME – On Friday, May 5, The Cooley Gallery is hosting an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. for ‘Laying it On,’ an exhibition and sale of paintings by Helen Cantrell.

“Finally!” says Jeff Cooley. “We were so excited when we saw this group of Helen’s paintings before lockdown. Her use of color and fearless application of paint drew us in immediately. The surfaces are full of energy and gesture. It’s as if you are witnessing the moment the light bulb goes on.”

Over 15 paintings will be on display at the gallery on 25 Lyme St. Laying it On includes bold landscapes and figurative scenes. Cantrell’s paint surfaces with their additions and subtractions are as lively as her subjects and the artist has never been afraid of tackling a large canvas.

She adds paint, takes it away … and then adds more.

Her landscapes might include roads or overheard wires implying structure while her brushwork resists it. She is openly influenced by California artist, Richard Diebenkorn, who, like Cantrell, was also a printmaker and a painter comfortable wielding the power of color.

There is an “in the moment” quality from a gesture of last light or to a couple turning to look at the viewer. The moment Cantrell captures may seem new but there is a familiarity like a distant memory gently returning.

Cantrell moved to New York from her birthplace of Chicago when she was 21 and never looked back. She was gainfully employed as a typesetter in the city until 1998, the year she became an elected member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists and a full-time painter and printmaker.

Cantrell and her husband John live in Old Lyme.

This exhibition runs through June 10.

The Cooley Gallery is located at 25 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Gallery hours are Friday and Saturday 12 to 5 p.m. or almost any day by appointment. There will be special gallery hours during this exhibition to include Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

For more information, call Jeff Cooley at 860-304-2386 or visit cooleygallery.com

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a press release issued by The Cooley Gallery.

MIDDLETOWN/OLD LYME — An exhibition by local artist Nancy Peel Gladwell titled “Remains of the Day” is on view through May 10, in the Pegasus Gallery and the Niche at Middlesex Community College (MxCC).

Gladwell’s paintings employ traditional modes of representation while contemplating contemporary issues of material consumption, digital and metaphysical resources.  

The show title is drawn from Kazuo Ishiguro’s award-winning book, “Remains of the Day,” where the butler/protagonist confronts shifting perspectives of personal memory and purpose. Her reading also extends the meanings and processes of understanding the multidimensional web as a similar form of remains.  

Gladwell explains, “We all leave a sizable trail of discarded and misappropriated things as the detritus of every single moment. As in Ishiguro’s book, most are psychological, behavioral, unintended, or not, misunderstood or not. They are physical and physiological and represent transitions, cleansings, and restorations.”  

Gladwell is an adjunct professor of Fine Arts at MxCC and has taught at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and Long Island University, C. W. Post. Her work is held in international public and private collections including the Heckscher Museum, Fort Wayne Museum and Parrish Museum.  

See more of her work at https://nancypeelgladwell.net

The Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall. Hours: Monday-Thursday: 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Closed 4/7). 

The Niche is in Founders Hall across from the Registrar’s Office. Hours: Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m. (Closed 4/7).