C H A R L I E
H E W I T T
ELECTRIC DREAMS RECENT PAINTINGS & NEON
Charlie Hewitt ELECTRIC DREAMS: Recent Paintings & Neons Jim Kempner Fine Art is pleased to announce Charlie Hewitt ELECTRIC DREAMS: Recent Paintings & Neon, the artist’s tenth solo show with the gallery. The exhibition will open Thursday, September 20th and continue through Sunday, November 4th. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, September 20th from 6-8 pm. A digital catalog will accompany the exhibition. Charlie Hewitt has never limited himself to one medium. Throughout his long career Hewitt has consistently challenged himself, exploring any and all forms of artistic expression including sculpture, painting, Xerox, thread, fabric, ceramic and now, for the first time neon. Exploring a new medium releases Hewitt from habits and memories of past endeavors, allowing him to take his artistic vision to places it has never been. At the heart of all Hewitt’s artwork is drawing, and working with neon was no exception. In his neons, Hewitt’s line is transformed into a 3-D composition of rich, illuminated color. The striking, crisp quality of his relief sculpture mixed with the vibrant boldness of the piercing neon light allows us to see color, form and line in new ways. Hewitt challenges these formal qualities while also imbuing the viewer with a sense of romanticism. ELECTRIC DREAMS will also feature recent paintings. Further expanding his exploration of the medium, Hewitt continues to collage large colorful shapes onto canvas. In “Tin Palace,”Hewitt plays with light through veiling areas with washes of white. The underlying shapes are brought back to the foreground with a layer of automatic drawing, enhancing the playfulness and fluidity of the images. Charlie Hewitt’s recent solo exhibitions include a retrospective of his paintings, sculpture and works on paper at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine, and a retrospective of his prints at the Bates College Museum in Lewiston, Maine. Hewitt’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; New York Public Library, NY; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Library of Congress, D.C.; Portland Museum of Art, ME; and many others. The artist lives and works in Portland, Maine and Jersey City, New Jersey. For more information please contact Director Sarah Browne sarah@jimkempner.com or Executive Director Dru Arstark dru@jimkempner.com.
ABBREVIATED CV BORN 1946 Lewiston, Maine SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018 ELECTRIC DREAMS Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 2017 Heather Gaudio Fine Art, New Canaan, CT 2016 New Paintings, Sculpture & Ceramics, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 2014 White Light, Jim Kempner Fine Art, NYC 2012 Woodcuts, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT 2012 Greenwich Art Council, Greenwich, CT 2010 Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 2010 Icon Gallery, Portland, ME 2008 Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 2007 Hot Off The Press, New York, NY 2007 The Whitney Art Works, Portland, ME 2006 Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, ME Bates College Museum, Lewiston, ME 2005 Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 2002 The Station, Group Show, Houston, TX 2001 Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 1998 Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 1997 June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, ME Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY Paula Paulette Fine Arts, Portland, ME 1993 Ralph Greene Gallery, Albuquerque, NM SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1999 Group Show, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY Lasting Impressions, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME 1998 Woodcuts, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY 1997 Vinalhaven Press, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME 1996 Dead Space Gallery, Portland, ME Fletcher Priest Gallery, Worchester, MA The Art Exchange, New York, NY Vinalhaven, Between the Muse Gallery, Rockland, ME Arden Gallery, Boston, ME PERMANENT SCULPTURE INSTALLATION 2015 Portland Rattle, 511 Congress Street, Portland, ME 2015 L/A Rattle, L/A Arts, Lewiston, ME 2013 Brooklyn Swing: Primera Companies, Dallas, TX 2013 Urban Rattle: Equity Builders for Ten23 Apartments (Highline Park adjacent), New York, NY
GRANTS AND AWARDS 1998 New York Foundation for the Arts, Painting 1997 New York Foundation for the Arts, Drawings, Prints 1974 New York State Council of the Arts, CAPS Grant PUBLICATIONS 2010 Charlie Hewitt: Sculpture Charlie Hewitt: Drawings for Illuminations 2009 Charlie Hewitt: Woodcuts 2007 Cut, Scrape, Gouge, Cut: The Graphic Work of Charlie Hewitt, Essay by David Becker, Bates College Charlie Hewitt at Work, Essay by E.A. Beem, Farnsworth Museum 2001 Art on Paper, “Working Proof,” page 73. 2000 Catalogue, Lasting Impressions, Portland Museum, by Bruce Brown 1997 Catalogue, Vinalhaven Press, Portland Museum, by April Galant 1994 Catalogue, Paula Paulette Fine Art, by David Becker 1992 Catalogue, One Press, Multiple Impressions, Bowdoin College Muse um of Art, Brunswick, ME by David Becker On the Edge, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, ME, by Theodore Wolff 1989 Catalogue, International Print Biennale, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia Catalogue, Quebec Print and Paper Biennale, Alma, Quebec, Canada Catalogue, Contemporary Woodblock Prints, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ 1986 Catalogue, Vinalhaven Press, Portland Museum of Art, by Margaret K. Burchenal Catalogue, Public and Private American Prints Today, Essay by Barry Walker 1980 Boundary II, Moby Dick, A Portfolio of Paintings, Fall, Essay by William Spanos SELECTED PERMANENT COLLECTIONS Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY New York Public Library, New York, NY Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY Prudential Insurance, New York, NY Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. State University of New York, Binghamton, NY MIT, List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH The Fogg Museum, Boston, MA Farnsworth Museum of Art, Rockland, ME Colby College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME
Brown Jug, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 60�.
Bohemian, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 72�.
White Night, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 60�.
Paint Buckets, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 72�.
Dakota, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 48�.
Spanish Bull, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 58 1/2 x 95 1/2�.
Lane’s Island, 2017. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 60”.
Tin Palace, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 60�.
Surrealist Garden, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 58 1/2 x 95 1/2�.
Banquo, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 72�.
Cortez, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 72�.
Bridge Road, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 72�.
Glass Castle, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 72�.
Blue Curtain, 2018. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 60�.
Black Jack, 2018. Painted aluminum with silver and copper leaf. 43 x 54�.
Blue Saw, 2018. Painted aluminum with silver leaf. 34 x 24�.
Black Cloud, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver and copper leaf, and neon. 32 x 35 x 5�.
Blue Coil, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver leaf, and neon. 48 x 32 x 8�. Electric Dream 2, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver and leaf, and neon. 30 x 34 x 5�.
Electric Dream 1, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver and copper leaf, and neon. 30 x 34 x 5�. Lavendar Spark, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver leaf, and neon. 30 x 25 x 4 1/2�.
Red Ribbon, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver leaf, and neon. 29 x 23 x 4 1/2�. Copper Light, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver leaf, and neon. 27 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 4 3/4�.
Purple Angel, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver and copper leaf, and neon. 38 x 27 x 5�.
L.A. Roll, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver leaf, and neon. 28 x 39 x 6. Neon Player, 2018. Painted aluminum, silver leaf, and neon. 30 x 24 x 4�.
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