Artspace Auction

For those of you who are not Facebookies, I have donated this painting to the Artspace Greenfield "Hearts on Fire" Auction tonight at Hope & Olive - 5:30pm 

I made this painting a few years ago looking out the window of my studio directly into the morning sun down the Green River. It's really hard to get a good photo of this, there is a lot more going on in the dark hillside of trees than you can see here. It is 11" x 14" and is framed. This size usually retails for $600. The reserve bid is $200. If you want to benefit a great community resource, and own this painting too, feel free to email or call Artspace directly if you cant make it to Hope & Olive.... 413-772-6811 info@franklyarts.com

Thanks! Hope to see you there!

Updated website

I have finally updated my portfolio website: www.frankgregory.com

While it is still not perfect, it's not too bad for a free google site.

Check it out, and like it on facebook!

"Mind & Matter" @ Grappone Hall, NHTI Concord NH

The installation of Mind & Matter at Grappone Hall, NHTI Concord NH went smooth as could be. I am very pleased with how it all turned out. I was a unsure and a little apprehensive about installing into the curved the wall, but other than some small undulations to the wall, the system worked perfectly. I now hope the students will choose to meet "at the big brain."

Taking it to the Street

Mackenzie Issler of the Greenfield Recorder wrote a fine article about me and my current exhibit at the Geissler Gallery at Stoneleigh-Burnham. Here is the front section and the back section as PDF files. You may have to zoom in to read the text.

Mind & Matter

I recently received a percent-for-art commission from the State of New Hampshire to create a piece of public art for a new building at the New Hampshire Technical Institute. The image above is a digital sketch of my proposal photo-shopped into a photograph of the actual room. Below is most of the proposal statement explaining what I intend to make.

Mind & Matter

A Public Art Proposal for the second floor study lounge area of The Beverly D. Grappone Hall at the New Hampshire Technical Institute

Statement

Mind & Matter will consist of 299 separate 7” square unique abstract paintings, that form an image when assembled into a grid. This grid is meant to be a visual echo to the glass block wall adjacent to the location at the 2nd floor study lounge. The paintings will be oil on ¼ inch birch veneer plywood with black edges. These will be mounted to 5” square ½ inch plywood on the reverse, creating a floating effect when these are mounted to the wall. The space between the paintings is equal to the width of the mortar joints in the block wall, and will fall completely into shadow.

There are two major images in the painting. On the right is an illustration of a brain in profile that I created for a medical textbook I illustrated several years ago. On the left is an image of an iron bridge. The images are simple and accurate line drawings which are contrast-reversed through an overall checkerboard pattern. The individual pieces will be painted in a lively, colorful and painterly manner in oils, with a variety of application techniques and exciting brushwork. Each piece will be painted as if it were to exist on it's own as an abstract painting.

The medical illustration is obviously a reference to the nursing training at the college, but in this context it also brings up the dichotomy of mind and thought versus the physical gray matter of medicine. The steel bridge image references human creativity, engineering, and great physical acts of imagination, but it also symbolizes the path to making these imaginings real, the synaptic bridge over the void from mind to matter.

These are some oil studies I have been making in preparation... this is going to be a blast to make. My work is usually observed realism, or based upon observation. Typically any invention is secondary to the depiction of observed ( or at least believable ) space and light. It's satisfying, but can get a bit boring after a while. The night series I just completed kind of drained the realist well, at least for the time being.

That said, this project has two very realist elements in it, although it is less about the depiction of space and more about the symbolism and graphic drawing of the images. The actual physical act of painting is completely freeing. I can use any application method, any color, texture, whatever works to embody the emotion rather than depict it.

Just an update...

Again it's been a while since my last post here, and since this site is still generating a decent daily traffic it's probably time for an update...

I'm still working for The Clark Art Institute helping with the Masterpieces Tour. The first exhibit, Pasion por Renoir at The Prado in Madrid has opened to great acclaim.

Also I am getting ready to have an exhibit of my night series of paintings, monotypes, and photographs this coming January at The Stoneleigh-Burnham School.

I did work on an interesting little project for el Museo del Barrio exhibit, Nueva York. As a subcontractor to The Small Corp, I was asked to make a scale model of Frederic Church's Heart of the Andes in the original walnut tabernacle frame. The original frame was destroyed or lost long ago and the only documentation that exists are a few old grainy black and white photos.

The model is made of walnut and is 1" = 1' scale. We decided not to include the presidential portraits in the model. As much as I would have loved to paint the image, I had to be competitive and make some money on the project, so I used a high resolution digital print. The figure is in historically accurate dress and is for scale.