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Torrington Savings Bank Gallery: September 27 – November 9, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, September 27, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
In-person Artist Talk: Friday, October 25, 6:30 PM
Moderated by Hugh O’Donnell
Artist’s Statement: The Panorama of Connecticut Industry
A rush of ideas accompanied my three-year study of Connecticut’s industrial development. Organizing those ideas framed my energies. I came to understand that I was looking at a system in the most essential meaning of the word – a combination of four systems:the environmental system, the social system, the systems of production, and the products. Four element groups that are sharing an organized environment independently yet interdependently (with adjacent elements). Land and sky (the environment) are overlapped on the picture plane by the people (the social system) which is overlapped by the machinery of manufacture (the production system) which is superimposed on the products of manufacture. Each (element group) is placed according to its historical chronology from foreground to background; the answer to the who, the what, the when, and the where. This is what would have to be reflected in the mural composition.
So the idea was born: a free-standing, self-supporting, portable picture wall reflecting the Connecticut industrial system with its startling power and variation – tremendous and yet delicate, nuanced, and of high contrast. A picture big enough to convey the physical power of Connecticut’s industry, the inventions, the land, the people, the machines, and the products – the whole system in a single image.
Exhibition Activities
Beginning in 1969 – One person show Central Michigan University Paintings – The summoning, Persecution and Conservatism, The Three ages of Man, The Dance of Life
1971 – Joint Faculty Exhibition – Faculties of Fisk university, Vanderbuilt University, and Peabody
1971 – Two Person Show, National Center for African American Artists, Dorchester, MA
1971 – Display of one painting – The Prophesy
1972 – Display of one painting – Persecution and Imperialism Hartford City Hall
1973 – Mural – Genesis of the Capital City – Downtown Hartford
1974 – 1979 – Teaching, sabbatical – Co-founding The SAND art studio,
Tour of Africa, Asia, Middle East and Europe
1980 – Three outdoor Public Mural Kiosks Designed, built and Painted Hartford,CT
1981 -Portrait – Honorable Thurman Milner Mayor of Hartford, CT
1982 – Portrait – Honorable C.S. Perry Mayor of Hartford, CT
1989 – Three Murals – Principals of Organization Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance Company corporate building Hartford, CT
1990 – Murals – Knowlege and Skill – A.I. Prince Technical School Hartford, CT
1991 – Canvas – Hope for the 21st Century Urban League of Greater Hartford (cover of major book)
1993 – Canvas – Reflections of You and Me – W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek Michigan
1994 – Canvas – Lake Scape – Phoenix Insurance Company Albany, NY
1995 – Canvas – Pond Scape – Phoenix Insurance Company conference center, Avon, CT
1998 – Murals – Imagination – Clark Elementary School cafeterias (2)
1999 – Murals – Purple – Octagon Club, Hartford, CT (entire club)
2000 – Connecticut Industry – Debut Exhibition, University of Hartford, Museum of American Political Life
2004 – Portrait – Superior Court Judge Hartford Bar Association
2005 – Spring – Comet Diner – Hartford, CT
2005 – 2006 – 12 Murals Howard Johnson Hotel Windsor Locks, CT
2006 – Mural – Concetta’s Restaurant, Bloomfield, CT
2008 – Portrait – Superior Court Judge, Hartford Bar Association
2009 – Mural – Vivaldi’s Restaurant, Simsbury, CT
2009 – Murals – McClelland residence, Ellington, CT
2010 – Murals – Atria Greenwood Senior Living Center, Rocky Hill, CT
2011 – Mural – Windsor, CT Bus Station, Windsor, CT
2012 – Mural/Kiosk restoration Upper Albany Ave, Hartford
2015 – Topographic building portrait for G. Camosci – Blue Back Square West Hartford, CT
2018 – Book Illustrations “Venture Smith” by E.J. Normen – CT Explored, Inc.
2019 – Book Cover Illustration ” Eagle with Forked Tongue” V. Figueroa
2023 – Display for sale of Topographic/ Historic Town paintings David James Gallery
2023 – Mural Restaurant Barrier – West Hartford Center, West Hartford Art League, West Hartford, CT
2024 – Portrait – Rev. Buford, Union Baptist Church, Hartford, CT
