“The viewer senses that, for Nemett, art (and nature) are like a cornucopia filled and overflowing.” — John Yau, from a review of Barry Nemett’s work
Arting Gallery is thrilled to present BARRY NEMETT: RHYTHMS & STRIPS IN RETROSPECT, NOV 15 - DEC 27, 2024. Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, November 15th from 6 - 8 PM. The 100-page book, published by Arting Gallery, that accompanies the show will be first released at this time.
The show includes many large works, as well as intimate drawings and sketchbooks. “Strips” are defined here as works which measure at least twice as long in one dimension as the other. In his BmoreArt review, Craig Hankin writes: “Truly a career retrospective — one of the earliest pieces on display is an astonishing, 30-foot ink-and-brush-long frieze of cascading books from 1973 — the artist’s inexhaustible patience and love of improvisation are remarkable to behold. Drawing undergirds every piece in this show, including the sublimely fluid, light-drenched gouache and watercolor paintings.”
Nemett says: “Most of my images start out small, and they grow. The resulting grid from adding sheets of paper represents units of time. Often, I piece them together taking months or even years to complete, from places miles or even continents apart. Although I draw and paint from life, the overall image is an invention.”
Barry Nemett is Professor Emeritus at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). He has exhibited his powerful, unforgettable works in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States, China, Japan, Africa, France, and Italy. After receiving a BFA from Pratt Institute and his MFA from Yale University, he was professor for 50 years at Maryland Institute College of Art where he was Chair of the Painting Department from 1990 -2016.
The exhibit will run from November 15 - December 27, 2024. In addition to the opening, the gallery will be open to the public: Saturday, November 16, 3 - 5pm; Friday, December 6, 2 - 4pm; Thursday, December 12, 2 - 4pm; and otherwise by appointment to ag@artinggallery.net
Address: 3500 Parkdale Avenue, Building 1 (with blue door), second floor, Suite 212, Baltimore, Maryland, 21211. Just near the intersection of Clipper Park Road and Parkdale Avenue. Parking is free.
“Since I began composing landscapes and narratives,” Nemett says, “I’ve envisioned a book that combined my drawings, paintings, and writings. This exhibit is that book . . . which you can walk into.” The show includes many large works, as well as numerous sketchbooks and texts.
In his BmoreArt review, Craig Hankin writes: “(Nemett defines ‘Strips’ as works that are at least twice as long in one dimension as the other). Truly a career retrospective — one of the earliest pieces on display is an astonishing, 30-foot ink-and-brush-long frieze of cascading books from 1973 — the artist’s inexhaustible patience and love of improvisation are remarkable to behold. Drawing undergirds every piece in this show, including the sublimely fluid, light-drenched gouache and watercolor paintings.”
Created more than half a century after the book scroll, the image and text of Celestial Stories describe the artist teaching his young children to read and write at a cemetery. Much more than a burial ground, the place is a hiking ground, playground, duck pond, and a library that quietly combines life and death, sadness and joy. The artist might add: And it’s full of great trees!
Barry Nemett has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States, China, Japan, Africa, France, and Italy. Select one-person museum exhibitions include the Guilin Museum of Art in China, and Chung-Cheng Museum (St. John’s University) in NY, and Bates College Museum of Art in Maine. His group museum exhibits include the National Academy Museum in NYC; Baltimore Museum of Art; New Jersey State Museum; Delaware Center for Contemporary Art (DCCA); Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Japan; Rochefort-en-Terre Museum of Art in France; Casa das Artes Criacao Ambiente Utopias (CACAU) in Sao Tome, Africa.
