The Newport Art Museum to Show New England Artist Andrew Nixon

Written by Abigail Coningsby Monday, 19 December 2011 23:42

Newport, Rhode Island.- The Newport Art Museum is proud to present " Andrew Nixon : I Am Here and You Are Not" on view at the museum from January 7th through March 11th 2012. In this exhibition, New England artist Andrew Nixon explores notions of place and memory through his magic landscapes. the exhibition includes paintings, drawings and prints created between 1994 and 2011. Andrew Nixon will speak about his work during an informal gallery talk at the Newport Art Museum on Sunday, January 15th beginning at 2 pm. The talk is free with admission. Place is a central theme in Nixon's work. The title "I Am Here and You Are Not" refers to, "the way in which we routinely exchange the ineffable experience of real places (the immediacy of earth, air and light) with their representation in pictures, maps and new media. Although place is obviously external, our sense of it is deep in the fabric of being, inseparable from imagination and memory," says Nixon, who teaches art at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Nixon's images, "...are not literal records of specific places so much as inventions that combine remembered surroundings with perceptual inquiries."

The artist is interested in the way character and landscape interact, and in how this relationship shapes people and the places they inhabit. He is also investigating time and themes of orientation and dislocation. Nixon's recent paintings often include the human figure. In The Lake, painted in oil on canvas in 2011, Nixon captures the stillness of a hot, mid-summer day. A half dozen or so people in swimsuits linger by the lake or wade through shallow water while four other figures stand at the top of a rise. These women and one man wear street clothes. At least three of them seem to be from an earlier era - perhaps the 1940s or 50s. Though there is a sense that all of the people in the painting are connected in some way, each of the figures on the rise stands apart from the others. Rather than gazing at the swimmers, all but one of these onlookers and several of the "swimmers" gaze back toward the viewer.


Born in 1959, Andrew Nixon studied figure drawing at an early age with  Rhode Island artists Myrna and Robert Lamb. He holds degrees in sculpture from Boston University's School of Visual Arts and Indiana University's Hope School of Fine Art.  Henry Geldzahler, former curator of 20th Century Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, became an early supporter of his work and remained so until his death, in 1994. In 1996, a stay in France led to a change in direction. Inspired by Brittany's distinctive light and pastoral landscapes, Nixon began producing monotypes. Over the next several years, he explored methods of transferring the simple, evocative qualities of his prints to painting. The resulting landscapes were not literal records of specific places so much as inventions that combined remembered surroundings with perceptual inquiries. Nixon's work has been widely exhibited in the United States as well as in France and Scotland.  He has won top prizes in a number of competitions. His paintings and monotypes are in the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design and in numerous corporate and private collections.  Nixon currently resides with his wife in Massachusetts, where he teaches and paints.


Home for the Museum since 1916, the Griswold House is a National Historic Landmark and an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures. Designed in 1862 by famed architect Richard Morris Hunt , it was completed in 1864 for John N.A. Griswold, a China Trade merchant and financier. The Griswold House currently houses restored rooms, galleries, a children’s art classroom, administrative offices, a lecture hall, and the Griffon Shop. The surrounding park and sculpture garden is used for many outdoor programs during the summer months. Designed by William Adams Delano, the Cushing Gallery opened in 1920 as a memorial to artist Howard Gardiner Cushing. Carrying on the American Renaissance style of the late nineteenth century, the quiet classical details of the Cushing Gallery contrast with the slate roof, gables, and cross pieces of Griswold House. The Gallery was enlarged in 1991 with the addition of the Nathalie Bailey Morris Gallery, the Sarah Rives Lobby, and state-of-the-art collections storage, enabling the Museum to expand and upgrade its collections and exhibitions, and to borrow important pieces from major museums across the country. Opened in 1998, the Gilbert S. Kahn Building houses the Museum’s art school, In the summer of 1912, a group of artists and intellectuals led by Maud Howe Elliott, Boston-born activist and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, banded together to form the Art Association of Newport for the purpose of promoting and exhibiting fine arts and fostering arts education within the community. Barely a month after its creation, the Association staged its first exhibition, which included contributions from within the group and renowned artists such as George Bellows , Mary Cassatt , John White Alexander , Childe Hassam , and Arthur B. Davies . In 1915, prominent scultptress and arts patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney exhibited her works and joined the Association Council.

Today, the legacy of these early artists is the Newport Art Museum and Art Association, a community arts center that provides the region with numerous art classes, exhibitions, and cultural events. Open to the public throughout the year, the Museum collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets contemporary and historic works emphasizing the pivotal role played by Newport and New England artists in the development of American art, and operates a state-of-the-art institutional facility with art courses and workshops in a variety of media. The Museum’s collections and exhibitions focus on the visual artists of Newport and southeastern New England, reflecting both the rich heritage of the past and the lively art scene of the present. The collections feature works by Fitz Henry Lane, George Inness , William Trost Richards , John Fredrick Kensett , John La Farge , Gilbert Stuart , Helene Sturtevant , and Catharine Morris Wright. Contemporary artists represented in the collection include Dale Chihuly , Howard Ben Tre, Robert Hamita, James Baker, and Joseph Norman . The Museum organizes special exhibitions drawn from the permanent collection, the holdings of other museums and private collections. These exhibitions bring to Newport a wide variety of themes and styles, often accompanied by special programs. The Museum provides local and regional artists with opportunities to exhibit their works in the Newport Annual, and various other venues throughout the year. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.newportartmuseum.org

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