‘Feast of Planes’ to open at Andrews Gallery
It would normally be a cliché to say an artist’s work “is on a totally different plane,” but it’s going to be made true Wednesday, Oct. 14, when “Feast of Planes” opens at the Andrews Gallery.
The exhibition, which will feature 10 different painters, was curated by Assistant Painting Professor John Lee of the art and art history department, and will run through Friday, Nov. 6. The gallery, located to the rear of Phi Beta Kappa Hall, is free and open to the public, and will host a reception at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29.
“All of the artists included construct space using planes of color, each using their own personal process and vocabulary,” Lee said. “Their work is a response to the visual world before them, but not intended to mimic what they observe.”
Featured artists include Michael Ananian, Lin Chen, John Dubrow, David Gloman, Marcus Michels, Stephanie Pierce, Eleanor Ray, Francis Sills, Kimberly Cole Trowbridge and Jordan Wolfson.
Lee said one of his primary goals in teaching painting is to create an awareness of spatial planes. “I argue that the interaction of planes is the major vocabulary in visual arts, much as notes are to music, verbs and nouns are to the written word and movement is to dance,” he said. “Planes are dynamic in their potential for creating rhythms of color and light, setting up a range of spatial tensions or creating a visual dance across the picture plane.”
He said he chose the artists based on their ability to demonstrate what he teaches students about planes, but also because he is personally intrigued by their work.
“They speak to a tradition of painting that I have long been invested in,” he said. “I want to share this excitement with the students at William & Mary as well as the community at large.”
