Rural Life
Marcia Burtt, Spring Sky, Borrego, acrylic, 14x18 in.
March 15 through May 12, 2019
Contemporary visions of rural life, from open spaces and cultivated land to farm animals and harvested crops, can be found in these paintings and photographs of life on the edge of the backcountry.
The subject is realist landscape, but a modern play with materials and representation succeeds traditional rendering.
Artists use colorful stripes of row crops and flat sharp shapes of barns and buildings to contrast with organic forms. Paintings of roadside vistas and aerial photographs provide the viewer windows to the broader topography. Cut flowers and fruit turn into abstracted trophies of agricultural landscape.
Diverse approaches to paint application, color, line, and composition create a realism that is relevant to our eclectic modern world.
Bill Dewey, Santa Ynez Valley Stripes, photograph, 7.25x11 in.
