Works

Exhibition Details

Clark Gallery presents evocative paintings on panel by Frances Hamilton and narrative painted collages by Gary Nisbet from October 2 through November 1, 2007.  An opening reception for Frances Hamilton: Annisquam Series and Gary Nisbet: Travel Home will be held on Saturday, October 6th from 4-6pm.

Frances Hamilton’s paintings of quiet interiors are filled with soft light and rich textures.  The viewer feels drawn to the familiar, inviting spaces and is left to contemplate memory and nostalgic associations among the sunroom’s wicker couch and guest room’s vanity table. Each oil on panel painting captures an intimate view of the domestic space and a subtle feeling of suspended time and overlooked beauty. One is reminded of the quiet contemplation afforded by the sun as it makes its way through the tall windows and across the hardwood floors.  A historic home on the North Shore of Massachusetts served as Hamilton’s muse for the new body of work, with Victorian furniture and antique architectural features.  But pure color and intuitive composition imbue Annisquam Series with the timeless essence of place. 

Frances Hamilton is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and received her MFA in Painting from the Massachusetts College of Art.  In 2005, Hamilton’s Squam Lake Series was featured at Clark Gallery and at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, NH.  Hamilton has shown at Clark over the past twenty years and has been included in shows at the Parkerson Gallery in Houston, TX, Horn Gallery at Babson College, Atrium Gallery at UMass Dartmouth, and the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.

Layered collages of found paper serve as the surface for expressively painted narrative imagery in the work of Gary Nisbet.  Intrigued by the connotations that can be read from fragments of printed, illustrated, and otherwise manipulated paper and the history implied by layered textures, Nisbet uses collage to inform the overall meaning of his work. He paints objects commonly associated with the domestic realm, such as shoes, books, flowerpots, ice cream cones, and teacups, pondering themes of growth and nurture, cycles of life and family, and the significance of home. Coupling such familiar icons with the collaged surface emphasizes Nisbet’s interest in connection, rhythm, ceremony, and purpose.  He has articulated, “These newly formed arrangements painted over the history of collaged surfaces seem an appropriate juxtaposition to represent everyday life.”

Gary Nisbet attended California State University before becoming a restoration artist under the direction of Anthony Heinsbergen in 1975.  Projects included the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, CA, Los Angeles Central Library, and Carnegie Hall in New York.  As a painter, Nisbet has actively shown in group and solo shows at Sue Greenwood Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA, Grover Thurston Gallery in Seattle, WA, Anne Reed Gallery in Ketchum, ID, and Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery in Portland, OR.  Nisbet recently opened Dot Gallery in Hingham, MA.