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Past
Exhibitions
Janet Fish: Into the Light
12 February-22 June
2008
Have
you ever been captivated by a cabbage or stunned by salad
dressing? Are you aware that the canned vegetables that
line the shelves of your pantry and the glass dishes
that hide behind your cupboard doors secretly possess
the power to excite your senses? Visitors to Janet Fish:
Into the Light, a retrospective exhibition organized
in collaboration with the Southern Vermont Arts Center,
will never again overlook inconspicuous household objects.
On display are nearly 30 works by the artist, including
oil paintings, watercolors, and pastel drawings that
exemplify her enduring fascination with light and reflections.
Janet Fish is a highly acclaimed artist and recipient of numerous
awards, including the William A. Paton Prize from the National
Academy Museum, and the American Artist Achievement Award. Her
work has been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
Born
into a family of artists, Fish demonstrated artistic
talent at an early age. She graduated from Smith College
and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree at
Yale. While it was her ability that guided her through
school,
it was her strong will and self-confidence that helped
her forge a successful career. In the 1960s, when Abstract
Expressionism dominated the art scene, Fish defiantly
dove headlong into realism. She emerged as a “painterly
realist,” projecting the physicality and dynamism
of Abstract Expressionism onto realist subject matter.
Vincent Katz, an independent curator, describes her paintings
as “dazzling, gossamer tours de force of glass, light,
and shadow.” He explains: “She has frequently chosen
subjects considered to be off-limits, boldly flouting received
opinion. Her paintings of things can be seen as pure delight,
beautiful objects that convey no message, that cause the mind
to stop thinking and to contemplate the marvel before one’s
eye. That contemplation can go on for many years. “Her “unmistakable
style” has been described by art critic Dottie Indyke as “realism
injected with a dose of expressionistic passion.” Each
of her large canvasses— which typically, measure between
four and eight feet in length—burst with lushly saturated
colors, energy, motion, and vivid light.
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