Avy Claire
Avy Claire typically divides her time between studios in New York City and Maine. Her work explores the intersection of nature and culture from drawings and paintings to site-specific installations in galleries and natural settings. In these installations, Claire creates life-size, conceptual, floating landscapes for people to explore their relation to natural elements that are oftentimes at risk. In the Ojai exhibit, Claire is presenting small and midsize abstract paintings informed by her time spent in the chaparral landscape of Santa Barbara.
As an artist receptive to the environment, Claire responds through various art media in what she calls “marking time.” In recent years this has included small and large-scale drawings using layers of text from news cycles. While in California her reaction to the natural elements of her surroundings is approached through the same lens of her fine perceptions. Here her process of marking time is with paint by using layers of luminous color with pure brushstrokes to record her impressions and making a visible record of her retreat. Her work is sparse, in-the-moment, and pulls the viewer into the painting.
Her striking paintings bring to mind abstract color field artists such as Rothko and Frankenthaler. Conceptually, Claire is more aligned with the abstract painter Sam Francis who famously declared “I paint time.” Great minds think alike, and Claire’s work has an expansive quality that drops one into time within an expanse of color and spatial gesture. Her paintings provide a stimulating mix of pure color expressionism and minimalism at its best.
You are cordially invited to a reception to meet the artist Avy Claire on Saturday, March 9 from 4pm to 7pm. The exhibit opens on March 6 and runs through March 30.
Avy Claire, Recent Works
Gallery 525
March 6 - 30
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 9, 4pm to 7pm
Avy Claire, Recent Works at Gallery 525
March 6 through March 30, 2013
Avy Claire website
As an artist receptive to the environment, Claire responds through various art media in what she calls “marking time.” In recent years this has included small and large-scale drawings using layers of text from news cycles. While in California her reaction to the natural elements of her surroundings is approached through the same lens of her fine perceptions. Here her process of marking time is with paint by using layers of luminous color with pure brushstrokes to record her impressions and making a visible record of her retreat. Her work is sparse, in-the-moment, and pulls the viewer into the painting.
Her striking paintings bring to mind abstract color field artists such as Rothko and Frankenthaler. Conceptually, Claire is more aligned with the abstract painter Sam Francis who famously declared “I paint time.” Great minds think alike, and Claire’s work has an expansive quality that drops one into time within an expanse of color and spatial gesture. Her paintings provide a stimulating mix of pure color expressionism and minimalism at its best.
You are cordially invited to a reception to meet the artist Avy Claire on Saturday, March 9 from 4pm to 7pm. The exhibit opens on March 6 and runs through March 30.
Avy Claire, Recent Works
Gallery 525
March 6 - 30
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 9, 4pm to 7pm
Avy Claire, Recent Works at Gallery 525
March 6 through March 30, 2013
Avy Claire website