This fall, Voltz Clarke Gallery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan welcomes painter Holland Cunningham for a solo show, Details, running from November 17 through the end of the year. THE DAILY SUMMER gets the scoop from the artist herself on what the show will look like and how photography plays a key role in her work. By EDDIE ROCHE
You’ve shown with Voltz Clarke Gallery before. How did your relationship with them begin? I met Blair Clarke through a mutual friend almost 20 years ago. At the time Voltz Clarke was an art advisory business. In a way, we have grown together. What will the show look like? Very good question. I have been trying to visualize it myself. There will definitely be a mix. I have not shown my abstract work in a long time, so there will be a bit of that next to the more figurative work and pieces inspired by spending time in Rome. I hope to have a few paintings from the “other peoples memories” series as well. That is the work that is inspired by found photography. I’m not sure how it will fit in, but I’m working on it. How do you describe your work? I tend to work in series. And I always have at least three different things in progress at one time. Currently I’m focusing on photographs that I took while in Rome this past spring. But there’s always the box of random photographs taken by strangers that tempts me. I have even made a few small sculptures of empty pools from a series I worked on a lot last year. I prefer to work on a small Holland Cunningham scale because I find it more intimate, and I like that the viewer has to take the time to get close to the work. But I’m also trying to free things up a bit and make some larger pieces on board and on paper as I have done in the past. How does photography connect to your work? Photography plays a big part in my work. Thirty years ago I was more a photographer than a painter. I studied art history and photography in college. I’m interested in the language of photography in painting. A close photographer friend described my paintings that
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way—an instant in time that oftentimes holds more memories and meaning than the image itself suggests. When did you start creating the works in this collection? Some of the work I started years ago, but most of what I’m doing today began while I was at the American Academy in Rome. I keep sketchbooks where I not only make drawings and paintings in gouache and watercolor, but I also write about ideas or things that inspire me. I’m also known to write down meals, especially when I’m Italy. One can find a painting of a palazzo or garden on one side and on the other side a description of the risotto or pizza I ate that same day. I’m always entertained when I go back to look at my sketchbooks. There are many. Would you say there is a recurring theme throughout your work? Memory and what remains. Whether it’s an ancient fresco in an ash-covered palazzo in Pompeii or a moment in time of someone’s family snapshot. Both are times past, but yet the memory remains. Your works have humor in them. Do you consider yourself a funny person or just a great observer of funny things? Both. I try to find humor in just about everything. Life is more fun that way. I’m afraid the work from Rome is not so funny, but I will find a way to bring humor into some of it. It may just be in the title. I’m not sure yet. You are a resident of Quogue. Do you work out here? I’ve been in Quogue for more than 20 years, and I have a small studio here. I find myself in the city once a week to work in my studio on Chrystie Street. It’s big and bright, and there are very few distractions. In Quogue, there is always the gorgeous beach, tennis, and family and friends to keep me distracted. My family and I enjoy winter weekends with a fire as much as the long summer days. What’s next for you? A morning swim in the ocean with my husband, mixed doubles later this afternoon, and at least three hours in the studio with the door shut and a podcast on. I have been listening to “The Great Women Artists” and “Talk Art.” I’m planning a painting trip to Sicily in early fall.
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