This has been one of my favorite exhibitions to date - and one I've been thinking of for a long time. It's been my practice to visit artists in their studios before I show their work - it affords me an opportunity to see them in their surroundings, understand how they work, and get inside their heads a bit - all of which gives me more material when it comes time to write PR.
I found studios and palettes as individual as the artist and their work - each uniquely different. Some palettes are sloppy and thick with old paint, while others are incredibly meticulous about clearing and cleaning their palettes after every sitting. One was 5 inches thick on the one corner of it's 8 x 10" base, and like a volcano, poured in streams of color to the opposite corner where the artist still mixed his colors for his detailed still life paintings in oil.
I also found only a few were willing to give up their palette for installation in the exhibition, and even fewer simply throw them out and start with a new one each time. One artist, a retired teacher, uses old cafeteria trays as palettes for his large, colorful, gestural paintings. Spoons end up alongside the brushes for mixing the acrylic color and the whole thing gets tossed at the end. Others simply use scraps of glass.
As the artists delivered work for the exhibit, I discovered the need to approach this exhibition differently, and really allow it time to evolve on the wall, so we pushed the date back and let ourselves sleep on it a bit. Meanwhile, we were photographing all the work, including sketches, process paintings, journal entries, and palettes, and taking photographs of the studios and portraits of the artists for a catalogue.
The reception will feature not only works by 14 artists, but a selection of their favorite foods, ie. the play on words. Featuring the Gadjo Playboys, gypsy jazz string band, the evening will certainly be one to remember. I can't wait!
For more on this exhibition, see the gallery website http://www.lyndengallery.com/palette%20pr.html
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