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and the edge becomes the center, 2009, Watercolor and gouache on clayboard, 96” x 120” |
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James Harris Gallery is pleased to present our third exhibition by Mary Ann Peters. Titled and the edge become the center, this show includes large-scale paintings and intimate works on paper. The artist’s practice is a marriage of painting and drawing. In her large scale paintings, Peters uses washes of pigment that lay the ground for abstract lines, confetti splashes of yellow, umber and blue, calligraphic pirouettes, sweeping curves and minor skirmishes that float across the surface. The images allude to landscape in a state of flux. Scenarios are suggested and tumble in and out of view, leaving a sense of place misplaced. What remains is the sensation of an event in passing, time worn but active.
In a series of small scale works on paper, Peters’ orients a rich warm white rectangle at various locations on a sheet of paper. Within this rectangle, the artist has placed a simple, gestural mark. Its shape becomes a record of the movement of the artist's hand and each work records the autonomy of the mark.
The artist’s most recent work has focused on large scale sited projects both here and abroad in which she responds not only to the particular architecture but also to its location. Using thematic sources derived from diverse topics, such as science or music, these monumental works set up a narrative in the environment that would not be there otherwise. While her vocabulary is largely abstract and ethereal, in the abstraction realities are suggested that are familiar, giving points of departure for the imagination.
A color catalogue highlighting over 25 years of work will be published concurrently with this show, with text by Frances DeVuono and Chris Bruce.
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