February 2013
Haynes Galleries presents
“Celebrating Form: Figurative Art and Sculpture”
March 8 to April 6, 2013
Reception: Friday, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 8, 2013
NASHVILLE — Haynes Galleries is pleased to announce “Celebrating Form: Figurative Art and Sculpture.” Drawing on the gallery’s rich tradition of excellence in American realism, this show combines two-dimensional work from a handful of the country’s most accomplished painters with some of today’s finest figurative sculpture. The result is body of work that stirs the emotions, captivates the senses, begs to be touched. The show begins with an opening reception on Friday, March 8, from 6 to 8 pm and will run through April 6 at Haynes Galleries on the historic Music Row Roundabout.
“Celebrating Form” features new and dynamic work by sculptors Alan LeQuire, Alicia Ponzio, Rick Casali, and Daniel Sinclair.
For LeQuire, the human figure is a universal muse — a siren that beckons all viewers with its transfixing song. Of LeQuire’s work, “Celebrating Form” features an incredible range, from miniature figures to larger-than-life forms. “Three Quarters Picasso” has a unique and compelling structure, owed to its allusion to Christian icon paintings. Picasso’s eye is centered in the plaque-shaped sculpture, creating an other-worldly dynamic. In addition to the works inside the gallery, LeQuire’s landmark sculpture “Musica” graces the Music Row Roundabout outside.
Sinclair perfected his stone-carving technique in Pietrasanta, Italy, where he worked in the studio of the town’s premier sculptor, Pasquino Pasquini. Sinclair — who had already earned an MFA from the Pratt Institute — started as a floor-sweeper. He moved up the ranks and eventually apprenticed under Pasquini. As a result, his technique has an Old World feel — every curve, perfect; every contour, luminous. But his subjects are modern and alive, vibrant and exciting.
Ponzio trained at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, where she went on to serve as Director of Artistic Anatomy and Écorché Sculpture programs and as a figure drawing instructor. Today, she calls San Francisco home. Her former career as a Navy nurse shines through in her rich, lustrous bronzes. Ponzio’s understanding of the human form is immediate, raw, vital, lending a sense of motion — and emotion — to her work. It’s no wonder that Ponzio won the Art Renewal Center’s first place prize for her stained plaster sculpture “The Lingering Shadows,” a tender reflection of her relationships with her mother and sister.
Casali approaches the art of sculpture through the lens of a painter. He developed his craft from 2004 to 2007 during an apprenticeship with one of the nation’s preeminent families of artists, the Egelis. From these teachers, Casali learned to master the light and shadow of the human form and soon moved from portrait painting to three-dimensional work. “Spring” is a delicate female figure. Her intricate features catch the light and create a painterly interplay of highlights and depth. In Casali’s hands, a sculpture reflects the range of shadow and tone akin to a masterful painting.
To complement the energy of the sculptures, gallery owner Gary Haynes has curated a selection of exciting two-dimensional work by contemporary masters. Zoey Frank’s portraits are nuanced and evocative — in her hands, subjects become storytellers, establishing a greater narrative than a canvas can contain. Milixa Moron infuses her work with motion and humor. They are at once painterly and playful.
Nicholas Raynolds aspires to the poetic in his work — and he achieves it. Technically deft and emotionally charged, Raynolds has taken classic portraiture and made it his own. Adrian Gottlieb’s trademark is a gauzy, dreamy softness that imbues his portraits, transporting the viewer to another place, another time. In contrast, Richard Greathouse’s work has a gritty quality — there’s an immediacy, an edge that beckons the viewer into the shadows. His canvases are dark and unexpected and utterly arresting.
“Celebrating Form” is an ode to the body. A glimpse into the soul. It is poetry brought to life, emotion distilled on canvas. It is light. It is life. And it is unforgettable.