Todd Watts, Susan Williams, Katherine Bradford, Alan Bray and Sam Cady at Caldbeck Gallery

From August 15 through September 15, the Caldbeck Gallery, 12 Elm Street in Rockland, will exhibit the work of Todd Watts of Blanchard Township, Susan Williams of Camden, and in a 3-person show, the work of Katherine Bradford of Brunswick and Brooklyn NY, Alan Bray of Sangerville, and Sam Cady of Friendship. A reception to meet the artists and view the exhibitions will take place on Wednesday, August 15, 5-7 pm.

In his first solo exhibition at the Caldbeck, titled “Remember Peonies?”, Todd Watts will exhibit a selection of a dozen photographs, measuring in the range of 19 x 19 inches to 65 x 45 inches, whose imagery works outside the boundaries of what we think of as reality. Leaving behind film negatives and the darkroom, the artist is no longer bound by time and history: these large scale works take us to places in our own minds, and make us wonder what they are about in the mind of the artist. Watts does not go into how these pieces are created, but simply calls them “photographs”. In “Copse Caper #4228”, birds fill the sun sparkled woods and seem a record of something that just happened, but…there is also this sort of fantasy that brings you closer to the actual experience of being with nature. A master darkroom printer, Watts came to Abbott, Maine in 1979 from NYC to print for Berenice Abbott. He studied art at Pratt University at the age of 11, followed by studies at the High School of Music and Art. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in NYC in 1971, and taught photography there from 1972-1979. He now works with digital equipment and large scale printers. His work is in public collections across the globe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, The Fogg Museum in Cambridge MA, and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. His most recent body of work, “Blanchard Weather Report”, was exhibited in part at the Caldbeck in 2016, and then in its full 40 image collection at PhoPa Gallery in Portland ME.

Susan Williams’s new work, “Singing Water”, deepens her exploration of imaginary impressions alongside elements of realism. Painted in oil on sheets of transparent acetate, the work reflects her pursuit of beauty, dreams, demons, and finally, love. The imagery appears to float above and below the plastic surface of each layer of the acetate. Although many images depict recognizable places on Lake Megunticook, the artist is interested in working intuitively, “with my hand connected to my heart”, she says. She has discovered that her personal journey is opening pathways that, through her imagery, express moments of life that are more than observed, but are also deeply felt. In “Towards Hope”, measuring 19 x 24 inches and comprising 3 layers of painted acetate, the view she paints, looking down Lake Megunticook towards the town of Hope, is at the same time a metaphor. A New York City native, Williams has a B.A. in Art History and Visual Art from Bowdoin College, with additional studies in Lacoste, France and the Arts Students League in NYC. Solo exhibitions include the Gerald Peters Gallery in NYC, The Barn @ Downing Yudain in CT, Ted Tihansky Gallery in Newport RI, and Pascall Hall in Rockport ME. With several group shows since 2012, this is the artist’s first major solo show at the Caldbeck.

 

In the 3 person show called “New Small Works”, Katherine Bradford will exhibit 6 paintings in acrylic on canvas, measuring 11 x 14 and 14 x 11 inches. The artist’s long standing visual conversation with water, swimmers, and piers, leave the viewer delighted in the mystery of her message. Her paint is layered and primal. Her figures are abbreviated, yet you know exactly what they are doing. Bradford settled in Brunswick ME in 1968 where she raised her family and worked in the artists’ community there, which helped launch contemporary art in Maine. She moved to NYC in the 70’s to pursue her career, receiving today accelerated acclaim, with exhibits being hung throughout the country as well as in Europe. She is represented in NYC by CANADA gallery, and in Maine by the Caldbeck, where she has shown since 2015.

Alan Bray will exhibit 4 new panels in casein. They measure 8 ½ x 11 inches, “the same size as a sheet of copy paper”, according to the artist. He works in the tradition of casein on panel, which he discovered in 1973 when he studied in Florance Italy while in graduate school. The artist says, “Among the intricate structure of phenomena, I look for and innate order of things”. His favorite hikes into the wilderness of the North Woods of Maine as well as the cultivated tree farms and fields near his home take on a mystical presence. By allowing his self-conscious awareness to dissolve, nature’s order becomes tangible: elements of memory and dream fold into what is felt and known in a kind of meditation. With additional studies at the Art Institute of Boston, and the University of Southern Maine, numerous solo shows in New York and Maine followed, including the Portland Museum of Art in 1994. He has been represented in Maine by the Caldbeck since 2003.

Sam Cady will exhibit 3 new paintings in oil on cut out canvas mounted on wood. “Front Moving East, Muscongus Bay”, 2018, measures 37 x 6 inches, and depicts the drama of weather off the coast of Friendship. The other 2 paintings are still in progress at the time of this writing. The artist says, “I like joining the two opposite poles of art – modernist severity with the realistic. I eliminate, simplify, pare things down, until I have arrived at the form and spirit of something”. Cady grew up in Maine and earned his degrees in art from the University of New Hampshire and Indiana University in Bloomington. He taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City for 23 years and has shown with a number of galleries there. In Maine, his work is in the collections of the Portland Museum of Art, and the Farnworth Art Museum. He has shown with the Caldbeck since 1997.

Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 11 – 4, and Sunday 1- 4, and also by appointment. For further information please call 207 594 5935 or email caldbeck@midcoast.com.