we are excited to be opening three incredible exhibitions for ben grasso, mary rountree moore and brigid watson. all three artists work primarily in oil on canvas and have distinctly different styles. they have each found their own technique and have dove deep into exploring their subject matter. whether houses destructing into chaos to the ever changing light of the north carolina marsh, they have found their voice and are letting it guide them in their paintings.
ben grasso paints fabricated disasters and the destruction of archetypal houses flying through the air. these large scale theatrical paintings almost reach a form of abstraction. the action sequences that he depicts of exploding elements are created with oils on paper. in his paintings he captures movement and energy, zooming in on the origins of detonation and chaos.
grasso was born in cleveland, oh in 1979. he earned his mfa in painting from hunter cuny new york, and bfa in painting from the cleveland institute of art. he has also participated in many group exhibitions nationally and internationally. in 2002 ben was awarded the joseph mcCullough painting scholarship award for excellence in painting and then the helen greene perry scholarship a year later. he completed the fountainhead residency, miami in 2009 and then was a 2010 fellow in painting from the new york foundation for the arts. most recently he was awarded the pollock krasner foundation grant. grasso has had experience as a visiting lecturer at universities, galleries and museums; such as the cleveland institute of art, the johns hopkins university in bologna, italy, and parsons the new school for design, ny, among others.
brigid watson is a boston based painter. she holds a masters degree from new york university and undergraduate degrees from the school of the museum of fine arts, boston and tufts university. her lush abstract drawings and paintings are known for their rich color, and are inspired by people, places, experiences, and travels.
watson’s work is characterized by heavily impastoed surfaces and a highly personal use of color. she often explores color trends and how they reflect social constructs such as anxiety, freedom, and power. for example, colors prominent in contemporary society act as barometers of the social climate. likewise, colors in the natural world are barometers of environmental stress and change in climate. sometimes these worlds connect.
mary rountree moore graduated from the university of of north carolina, chapel hill and went on to study art at the national academy school of fine arts in nyc. her intense love of colors found in nature is the driving force behind her paintings with a keen interest in the natural order found in the landscape and the changing seasons. she pushes the boundaries of realism into abstraction as her compositions move from loose realism to abstraction. mary rountree moore is particularly drawn to the salt marshes of the southeast.
all available work by ben grasso, mary rountree moore, + brigid watson can be viewed on our website on the artist page under their individual tab. click on their name to bring up all available paintings with sizing and pricing. please call the gallery if you have any further questions.
