‘Way back’ is relative here. It was about five years when I discovered Stacey Durand but it feels like ages ago because it’s when I first started collecting art. In fact, the first piece of art I ever purchased was The Abbot Shoppe by Durand! At the time I was living in Boston and was amazed by how well Stacey captures the look and feel of the greater Boston area. Now New York is home but I still have the same admiration for Durand’s work.
Stacey is inspired by the many old, quirky buildings and neighborhoods around New England. But instead of painting these streetscapes as they appear, Stacey strings together buildings and scenes from around the area, weaving together her own collaged neighborhoods. Her depiction of these imagined streetscapes explores our complex relationships with, and memories of, physical locations. We experience the emotional aspect of geography which, as Durand’s work implies, cannot be fully communicated through careful documentation alone.
Artist’s statement: “Over the years I have lived in and around many of the coastal towns in New England. Like many, I have been drawn to the seacoast and the regional character of its cities and buildings. These neighborhoods are often filled with old homes that are packed together tightly, creating interesting, crowded arrangements and compositions.”
“These overlapping homes, quirky seacoast buildings, and urban landscapes have been the subjects of my most recent work as I am drawn to the layers and connections that these buildings and objects create. I work from photographs of actual buildings from my environment. I then take these buildings out of their original context and combine them with other images to create new connections among these landscapes. In doing this I create a new environment that feels strangely familiar and new at the same time.”
Durand currently has work for sale at Nahcotta’s Summer Group Show.
In case you haven’t heard me talk about it before, Nahcotta is a little design shop and art gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with one of the best selections of affordable art online. Their Enormous Tiny Art Show is a rotating selection of work 10″ x 10″ and under by many fabulous independent artists around the country. Here are my picks of what’s on show now.
An awesome, enormous (sorry!) and VERY affordable show featuring work by a diverse group of North American artists. The show starts this Thursday but everything is already available online. Below are my picks.
December 5th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Nahcotta’s ETA holds a special place in my heart; it was here that I bought my first original piece of art, a streetscape painting by Stacey Durand. The Enormous Tiny Art Show was perhaps the first show I attended that actually felt open and accessible, and that experience has stuck with me.
Years later ETA continues to provide great, affordable art with bi-annual shows in New Hampshire and Los Angeles. Their second LA show opened yesterday and runs through Dec. 8th. All the work is available online which makes me (and lots of other East Coasters) very happy!
Now for this week’s picks from ETA’s LA show:
September 16th, 2009 · No Comments
Jennifer Davis is based in Minneapolis but her work definitely gets around! Recent highlights include exhibits at Nahcotta’s ETA in New Hampshire, Walker Contemporary in Boston, Cerasoli Gallery in LA, and SOOVAC in Minneapolis. Although Jennifer has received a good amount of recognition for her work, her paintings are (for the time being) very affordable!
Below is my shortlist of Jennifer’s available work. Performer and Yippee!, both a steal at $150, are available through Nahcotta’s ETA, while the rest, at $450, are available through Davis’s site.
Photos from Friday’s Enormous Tiny Art Show opening!
Nahcotta’s 6th ETA opened its doors yesterday and will go through September 28th. If you live in or will be visiting the greater Boston area, I highly recommend finding time to stop by Nahcotta, in Portsmouth, NH.
The show celebrates small-scale art (every piece is under 10”x10”) and includes 50 artists from all over the country, including California, Oregon and North Carolina. Nahcotta does a fabulous job of putting together a show that highlights great art that is truly affordable: most pieces are under $200! For those of you (myself included) who probably won’t make it up to Portsmouth, you can still view the show and purchase works on the ETA website.
Here’s a slideshow of some of my favorite pieces from the show. This is just a sampling, and there are many, many others worth checking out! Enjoy!
