Adam Montoya and Carter Shappy grew up and studied art on opposite sides of the country, but both are prolific, accomplished young artists and printmakers now working only a little ways apart in Maine. Their work springs from intense observation and immersive interaction with the natural world around them, but with visions and techniques quite different from those most of us are familiar with. The Green Lion Gallery is delighted to announce a show of their work, opening on Friday, February 14.
Carter Shappy is a printmaker, installation artist and Vermont native currently living in Portland where he received his BFA from the Maine College of Art. He is the print shop manager at Running with Scissors Artist Studios in East Bayside where his own studio is also situated. In 2016 he was the co-producer and first-ever participant in a collaborative art and science residency at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay. For four months he worked closely with Senior Research Scientist Dr. Steve Archer translating Archer’s research on ocean acidification and gas exchange into a two-story printed installation. The installation, Colorcosm, has been on view at the laboratory headquarters since July, 2016.
Shappy’s work is inspired by his interests in natural phenomena, perception, psychedelia, and everyday, mundane experience. Working in a variety of media, he is frequently drawn to intersections in printmaking, painting and sculpture. Shappy says of his recent work:
“I’ve always been interested in the idea of the fractal, not just as an abstract, mathematical expression, but a methodological and visual expression as well. How do I create body of work that’s devised from a fractal-like process? Coincidentally, these new works, which sprout from a random discovery at the printing press, encapsulate both the ubiquity of fractals as represented, in plain sight, all throughout our world—and as represented in the way we perceive that world, the way we think, and in this case, the way we make art.”
Adam Antonio Montoya was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, surrounded by the vistas, stories, and histories of the American Southwest. During and after his BFA and MFA negrees, he was fascinated by exploring the oddities, subtleties and grandeur of the desert landscape in the West. More recently, he has migrated to the coast of Maine and, as a new Maine resident, quickly found a home among the printmakers at Circling the Square Press in Gardiner. He says:
“One of my favorite things about the printmaking community is being part of such a friendly, generous, and like-minded group of artists and makers wherever you go. This is especially true here, and I’m eager to connect with the vibrant community throughout the region.
“My hope for this exhibition, at the Green LIon, is to see how my work, created about and alongside the Great Basin and Sonoran deserts of the Southwest, speaks to the place and residents of Coastal Maine. My experiences with and within my ancestral land are in many ways represented in these prints and I am excited to share and compare those moments as a relative newcomer to this landscape.
“It is a privilege to show alongside Carter, whose work I’ve admired from afar since arriving here. I feel a kinship within our work and am excited to see that play out in this exhibition. There’s a quiet confrontation and lingering on form, mystery, and process present in both of our work that comes with making art through prints.”
Montoya received his BFA degree in Printmaking from the University of Utah and an MFA from Arizona State University. His work has been exhibited in many places, including printmaking exhibitions in Chihuahua, Mexico; Hangzhou, China; Tokyo, Japan; Dundee, Scotland – and now at the Green Lion.
There will be an opening reception for the artists at the Green Lion, 104 Front St, Bath, on Friday, February 14 from 5 til 7 pm. The show will be on display through March 20, 2020.
Categories: Artists Reception, First Friday, gallery, Portland, shows
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