A Painting is a Painting is a Painting

APRIL 15 - JUNE 4, 2023 

ARTISTS: Naomi Clark, Mary Dwyer, Jimmy Mezei, Joesph O’Neal, Lauren Whearty, Alison Owen, Megan Galante, Arrow Kleeman, Mary Ann Strandell, Stefan Saffer, Holland Cunningham Janice La Motta, Jason Mones, Mark Tribe, Brenda Zlamany, Kristen Schiele, Tina Lincer, Amy Morken, Elissa Levy, Maxine Leu, Tracy Miller, Tzirel Kaminetzky, Julie Hedrick, Emily Noelle Lambert, Melinda Hackett and Joe Mangrum

“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”   – Edward Hopper

"Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem "Sacred Emily.” Often interpreted to mean "things are what they are,” in truth, Stein was attempting to reclaim the identity of a thing that has been subject to memory’s frailty: as memory took over, the rose lost its identity and she was trying to recover what was lost. This famous phrase expresses how the name of a thing can invoke the imagery and emotions associated with it. 

What does the word “painting” mean and what associations arise with its symbolic utterance? The history of the art form or the smell of oil on canvas? A narrative, an abstract palette, a value, or just the power of a painting to suck you in?  

A Painting is a Painting is a Painting is an attempt to discuss the vast surface of meanings across this art form. In a time of digital pictures, photoshopped compositions, and artificial realties, where does painting fit in? 

Paintings are more than paint, more than representation. Each painting is a world that invites us to question our own. A painting is the careful act of communicating the realities we live in, and paintings are a part of the human landscape as much and as significantly as the diverse landscapes they might depict. They are tools we need to understand and develop culture…the envoy of an absurd task: to find meaning within every individual viewer. 

Rediscover your own meaning; enjoy the journey!