Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
Taylor Museum for Southwestern Studies
Colorado Springs, CO
719-634-5581
http://www.csfineartscenter.org
Four Artists, Four Objects, Ten Years:
Janet Fish, Sondra Freckelton, Nancy Hagin, Harriet Shorr
From June 24th through August 27th,
2000, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center will exhibit "Four Artists,
Four Objects, Ten Years: Janet Fish, Sondra Freckelton, Nancy Hagin, Harriet
Shorr."
In 1986, four long-time friends embarked
on a "game," each selecting an object that they would all include
in a still life composition. None of the objects could have made a prior
appearance in any of their previous works, and all of the paintings were
to remain out of view until the entire quartet was completed. Ten years
later, they repeated the exercise, and the results illustrate not only the
artistic development of these four prominent still-life painters, but also
demonstrate the stylistic variety and scope of the genre. For these friends
the sense of play in the artistic game which they 
devised is
as exciting as the unique associations and forms suggested to them by the
same objects. Here we "discover" the results along with them.
In addition to the First Artist Project and Tenth Anniversary Project paintings,
both in watercolor and oils, are examples by each artist of work during
the intervening years. Their diverse styles and methods hint at their unique
personalities and perceptions, and the use of similar objects did not inhibit
their range of expression. The exhibition is accompanied by a color catalog
with an essay by art historian John Arthur. (left: Harriet Shorr,
After the Fall, 1996, 40 x 60 inches, 10th Anniversary Project; right:
Janet Fish, Just Say No, 1993, 48 1/2 x 62 1/2 inches)
The well-known realist painters, Janet Fish,
Sondra Freckelton, Nancy Hagin and 
Harriet Shorr
felt, to quote Thomas Bolt in the July 1987 issue of "American Artist,"
"the results would provide a wealth of diverse ideas and tactics in
theme and form, all turning on the fixed axis of the exchanged objects...the
fun of seeing the ways in which the artists might make certain objects their
own, as well as the range of imaginative solutions possible, was further
incentive." (left: Sondra Freckelton, Keepsakes II, 1996,
10th Anniversary Project; right: Nancy Hagin, Music Stand, 1994,
60 x 48 inches)
On June 29th, at 6:30 p.m., the Colorado Springs Fine Arts
Center will present "Wine, Cheese and Fish," a gallery talk with
"Four Artists, Four Objects, Ten Years" artist, Janet Fish.
Read more about the Colorado Springs
Fine Arts Center / Taylor Museum in Resource
Library Magazine
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In 1986, four long-time friends embarked
on a "game," each selecting an object that they would all include
in a still life composition. None of the objects could have made a prior
appearance in any of their previous works, and all of the paintings were
to remain out of view until the entire quartet was completed. Ten years
later, they repeated the exercise, and the results illustrate not only the
artistic development of these four prominent still-life painters, but also
demonstrate the stylistic variety and scope of the genre. For these friends
the sense of play in the artistic game which they 
devised is
as exciting as the unique associations and forms suggested to them by the
same objects. Here we "discover" the results along with them.
In addition to the First Artist Project and Tenth Anniversary Project paintings,
both in watercolor and oils, are examples by each artist of work during
the intervening years. Their diverse styles and methods hint at their unique
personalities and perceptions, and the use of similar objects did not inhibit
their range of expression. The exhibition is accompanied by a color catalog
with an essay by art historian John Arthur. (left: Harriet Shorr,
After the Fall, 1996, 40 x 60 inches, 10th Anniversary Project; right:
Janet Fish, Just Say No, 1993, 48 1/2 x 62 1/2 inches)
