Tim O'Kane

Published 2022

Tim O’Kane, Satsumi & Sponges (Detail), 2021 [Cover]

TIM O’KANE

Artist Statement

“Within my definition of “Still-Life” is the quality of stabilizing that which is ever moving, vanishing and becoming my past.”

I painted my first still-life in 1990, twenty-five years into my career, setting up simple domestic objects on my kitchen table. From the start, I chose a minimalist, yet visually sensual approach and have stayed with it ever since. And during the last 30 years, I’ve made a concerted effort to develop still-life into a major subject area for my work.

I have come to understand the potential of ordinary objects; the enigmatic qualities of existence contained in the mundane. This is what Cezanne and Morandi had grappled with; what brings such an air of dignity to their simple subjects and the largeness we feel in them.

The tradition of still-life is almost as old as the art of painting itself. The factors that artists manage in working within its precepts are the fundamental elements of painting; shape, texture, color, design, spatial reference, and the sensuality of surface. The object observed and closely scrutinized in the clarity of daylight becomes one of the painter’s attachments with the real world.

It will always be considered a traditional approach to making art, but it can take place in respect of modernity. It does not have to be in opposition to it. Tradition can be valued and retained while still speaking to our time, our current experience. I believe the art of still-life is as viable as ever. It affords the artist a compelling balance between geometry and the illusion of representational painting and offers an endless world of possibilities for distilling a contemplative order from the noisy chaos of the world.

Opposite Page TWO SPOONS & WATER, 2021 (p. 8-9)

&

Box & Red Pear,

on Panel

Tim O’Kane Abbreviated CV

Born: 1950, Richmond, Virginia

EDUCATION

1965–1968, Blue Ridge Art School, Roanoke, Virginia (instructor: George Solonevich) 1972, B.F.A. Painting and Printmaking, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

TEACHING

1979-1983 University of Virginia Continuing Education, Charlottesville, VA (Life Drawing)

1984-1995 St. Anne’s-Belfield School, Charlottesville, VA (Chair, Fine Arts Department, pre-12

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021 New Work/Summer Exhibition / Online Exhibition

2020 The Light of Italy / Online Exhibition

55 Year Retrospective / Online Exhibition

2018 Five Decades / A Devotion To Realism (50 Year Retrospective), The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA

One Intention in a Troubled World (From The Dream Series), Chroma Projects, Charlottesville, VA

2015 Retrospective & Recent Work, Haley Fine Art, Sperryville, VA

2014 Recent Still Life and Selected Works From the Dream Series “Naxos,” Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2013 River Inn, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2012 The Observed World of a Right-Handed Painter / Recent Still-Life, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2011 Naxos, Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville, VA

2010 Recent Work, Warm Springs Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

Still Life / Recent Work, Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs, VA

2009 Still Life, Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs, VA

2008 Maine / Watercolors, Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs VA

2007 Still-Life & Time Enough, (Angelo’s / C&O - Charlottesville Venues)

2005 Italian Miniatures, Mcguffey Arts Center, Charlottesville, VA

2000 The Hours Trilogy and Islands Suite, Mcguffey Arts Center, Charlottesville, VA

1998 Tim O’Kane / Time Enough 1993 - 1998, Selected Paintings And Drawings, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

1994 Tim O’Kane / Ten Years, Greenville County Museum Of Art, Greenville, S.C.

1989 Selected Drawings, Piedmont Va. Community College, Charlottesville,VA

Tim O’kane/Works on Paper, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022 Homeward Bound / Triannual Juried Exhibition, The Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

2017 Homeward Bound / Triannual Juried Exhibition, The Taubman Museum Of Art, Roanoke, VA Small Works - 1st Place Award The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA

2016 Virginia Artists 2016 Juried Exhibition, The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, Va. The Artist’s Studio, The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, Hampton, VA

2015 Beyond Real: Still Life in the 21st Century, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA Gallery Artists, Haley Fine Art, Sperryvile, VA

GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS

2016 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition / 1st Place Realist Painting Award, The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center

2011 Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship / Works on Paper

2007 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship (2006-2007)

2000 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship (1999-2000)

1998 Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Grant (1997-1998)

1993 Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Grant (1992-1993)

1991 Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA, Drawing Award (Juror: Tom Armstrong)

1990 University of Virginia Center for the Liberal Arts, Study in Italy Grant, University of Virginia (1989-1990)

1987 Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Friends of the Center Award and Drawing Award (Juror: Ned Rifkin)

1982 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts/Va. Commission for the Arts Professional Fellowship (1981-1982)

1981 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship (1980 - 1981)

1969 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Student Fellowship (1968 – 1969)

SELECT PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Bicentennial Painting/Laying of the Cornerstone, Colonnade Club, Pavilion 7, University of Virginia Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Dominion Energy, Richmond, VA

ER Carpenter Co., Richmond, VA

Equitable Insurance Corporation, Columbus, Ohio

Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, S.C. McGuireWoods, Richmond, VA

Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Va. University of Virginia Emily Couric Cancer Center, Charlottesville, VA

TIM

STILL LIFES