Four Painters
Mark Beard, Jeff Briggs, Todd Germann and Joe Richards
May 31, 2012 through July 8, 2012
Carrie Haddad Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition, “Four Painters”, featuring works from Mark Beard, Joe Richards, Jeff Briggs, and Todd Germann. The show is on view from May 31st through July 8th, 2012. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, June 2nd, from 6-8pm. All are invited to attend.
Mark Beard will be presenting all new works for this exhibit. Painting in the 1920s mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Joseph Richards was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Upon his high school graduation, he bought a train ticket for Chicago and embarked on a career in art. At night he attended the Mizen Academy and during the day he worked at a men's clothing store. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific Theater as a signalman. After returning to Chicago he enrolled at the American Academy of Art and later studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He eventually settled in New York City, where he soon met Ivan Karp at the OK Harris Gallery who successfully exhibited his realistic paintings from that day forward. Richards painted functional objects, such as locomotives, cranes and anchors, in which he found beauty because of their color, texture and form. His large canvases were shown in many shows over the years in New York City, Scottsdale AZ, and Washington DC and many of his pieces can be found in the corporate collections of Mobile, AMOCO, and United Airlines. Richards moved to Columbia County 20 years ago and enjoyed painting in his well-lit, glassy studio. During the winter months, he took full advantage of Hunter Mountain’s ski for free program for enthusiasts over 70. Richards died at his home in Hillsdale, NY in 2007 and he is greatly missed.
Jeff Briggs' “pointillist” paintings combine notions and responses towards and away from visual/auditory landscapes. Interested in the way that sound might be represented through color and rhythmic mark making, "My aim", says Briggs, "is to create work that makes a resonant hum." Near-round marks create robust depth and buzzing movement and in their distinctness, give the paintings a collage-like quality. Yet the casualness rooted in the work’s affinity to collage competes with striking precision and deliberateness, as evidenced by the clarity of each mark and Briggs’ acute sensitivity to color. These works evoke the pointillistic painting technique pioneered by George Seurat only to subvert it with the grace and subtlety characteristic of Briggs’ practice. Briggs studied at Massachusetts College of Art and SUNY Purchase, and is currently based in Boston, MA. His work has been shown at numerous galleries throughout the Northeast.
Formally educated as an architect, Todd Germann is a completely self taught painter. His method is one of reaction, whether a free-form line, a rigid architectural pencil line, a form, a color or a texture - the paintings are never predetermined. They come about from creating a ‘landscape’ of texture and color, and then reacting to that design base with a number of elements - large swatches of paint, forms taped off to be revealed, and precise lines. The result is a harmonious composition of color, form, and line. This is the first time Todd Germann will be exhibiting at Carrie Haddad Gallery.
