Star Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Robert S.
Neuman’s exhibition on August 14, 2014. The exhibition runs from August 14th
through August 27th, 2014. Mr. Neuman, 87, and his family will both be present at
the Gallery for the opening reception on August 14th, 2014 from 5:00-7:00pm. Star
Gallery is located at 6 Neighborhood Road in Northeast Harbor, Maine.
This retrospective-style exhibition will include paintings, mixed
media works on paper and prints dating from 1961-1998. The selection at Star
Gallery represents how the Artist is able to translate modern day cultural themes
throughout his diverse series’ and various media.
All of the works featured in this exhibition represent
Neuman’s distinctive artistic language. Often, forms, textures and shapes are created
by stamping household items like lamp shades, tuna cans, and toothpaste caps
onto the canvas. The Artist also uses a taping technique, which allows bold
lines of color- blocked spaces, or the opposite: sedimentary layers of paint
and tape. Neuman used both of these techniques throughout his body of work and
also when creating unique works on paper and prints.
The Space Signs, Stacks and Piles and Ship to Paradise Series’ were influenced by the Artist’s time in
Maine. Neuman began spending summers in Maine in the early 1960s, when he was a
professor at Harvard University. Originally “summering” in Ogunquit, Allan
Stone (the collector and friend) offered Neuman a home in Northeast Harbor in
trade for paintings. Since the mid-1960s, the Artist and his family have enjoyed
time in Northeast Harbor, Maine.
The Space Signs Series, begun in 1966, contemplates space travel in the
early 1960s by using bright colors, stamping and taping to represent
interstellar orbs and geometric landscapes. Neuman reminisces of nights in
Northeast Harbor enjoying the stars with friends and family. Stacks and Piles are inspired by cairns
found when hiking the Acadia National Park trails. Likewise, Ship to Paradise represents the nautical
themes of time spent in Maine. Ship to
Paradise Storm and Construction
illustrate Neuman’s admiration of Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Juan Miró.
Neuman’s other four series that are represented in the
exhibition all draw upon the Artist’s travels and life experiences. Pedazos del Mundo, begun in 1961, was a
response to Neuman’s time spent abroad on Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships in
the mid-1950s. Reflecting on all the pieces (“pedazos”) that make up our world
(“mundo”), Neuman focused on a centric circle composed of many layers of shapes
and colors, all symbolizing different aspects of the world. The Artist also incorporated elements of
collage and stamping into the canvases, prints and unique works on paper in the
Pedazos del Mundo series.
The Lame Deer Series,
begun in 1978, is named for a Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana, near
the battle of Little Big Horn. Neuman was inspired to create this series after
visiting the reservation while on a cross-country trip. Many paintings in the Lame Deer Series are named after famous
Native American chiefs or locations that pertain to the plight of the tribes,
such as Little Shell and Greasy Grass. The Lame Deer compositions are often broken up with bold, stick-like
lines, which are used as symbols for empty, abandoned teepees.
Diamond Canvases,
begun in 1963, exemplifies Neuman’s brief use of shaped canvases, popularly
used by Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella, and Ellsworth Kelly. Genova incorporates
all the techniques, such as stamping, abstract symbolism and taping that are
seen throughout all of the artist’s bodies of works. Man with a Pipe, from the Abstract
Figure series, is a prime example of Neuman’s use of tape to build and
reveal layers of paint within the composition. Neuman achieves the figure’s
hard edge by applying graphite to the oil paint, another technique used across
series’.
In addition to the exhibition at Star Gallery, Neuman
recently had a solo show at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA featuring his Lame Deer Series. Neuman also had a
major solo show entitled Robert S.
Neuman’s Definition of Place: 1950-2012, which was his largest and most
comprehensive exhibition to date. The show was on display at the Art Museum of
Eastern Idaho and later traveled to the Prichard Art Gallery at the University
of Idaho during Summer-Fall 2013. Neuman’s other recent shows include: Robert S. Neuman's Ship to Paradise at
the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, NY, in Summer 2012, which traveled
to Bates College in January 2013. His work is included in the collection of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME,
the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME,
the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH and other national
institutions.
Star Gallery Contact Info:
Star Gallery
6 Neighborhood Road
P.O. Box 55
Northeast Harbor, ME 04662
Hours:
July and August
10am-6pm Monday through Saturday, 12pm-5pm on Sunday
207-276-3060
