may exhibitions

it is quite unbelievable may is already here in all it’s glory. we are super excited to present two new exhibitions for longtime charlotte artist susan mcalister and richmond abstract artist cameron ritcher. susan mcalister studied art at davidson college and has long been fascinated with the land and it’s mysteries. she intensely observes her surroundings and captures the essence of a place through a unique lens. très fragile includes works on canvas, paper and assemblages. mcalister uses a vast selection of techniques to record and interpret nature.  together the work transports and lifts you into the natural realm of the unbridled landscape.

swiftly emerging artist cameron ritcher caught our eye immediately. cameron holds nothing back when approaching his materials. his assemblage wood panel paintings have evolved over the last few years from found objects roughly combined together to create fascinating detailed compositions to more stuctured and organized images. the new work in form + novelty has been paired and honed down to the essentials. his visual vocabulary stands out and jumped out of the frame in a few works to stand alone. the symbols have stepped off the canvas in cameron’s installation of shaped wood panels to become sculptural objects. cameron ritcher has just begun and we for sure cannot wait to watch him unfold his abundant energy and talent through his selected materials for years to come.

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susan mcalister

très fragile

new paintings, works on paper + assemblages

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susan mcalister was born and raised in the hunt country of virginia. mcalister received her ba from davidson college and has been painting for over 30 years. she has studied alongside numerous acclaimed and professional artists including herb jackson and eric aho. her paintings speak to a love of the land and a concern for the spirit of place. susan has a keen ability to translate sensations into painting. her lush, often abstracted landscapes are evocative and powerful explorations of her quest for places and things that nurture and inspire. she applies multiple layers of paint, wax, marble dust and graphite combined to simultaneously construct and deconstruct. susan mcalister lives in charlotte, nc.

Très Fragile

“I’m hoping to be astonished tomorrow by I don’t know what.” — Jim Harrison, In Search of Small Gods

My work is rooted in a love of land. It speaks to the hallowed nature of place and the importance of land ethic.

‘Très Fragile’ is an ‘ode’ to forests past and present.

It considers the majesty of an uncut or virgin forest; the distress of wildfires and flooding; the wonder of regeneration.

It is a collection of representational and abstracted art objects which seek to express the sensation of stepping through a portal and into untamed land spaces.

Here time distorts, sounds synthesize, the land breathes out unspoken stories, the rhythmic spacing of trees paces off centuries gone past.

I am constantly astonished.

This body of work integrates studies of Bonnard’s use of color and composition, most specifically his two decade long series of bathtub paintings; it applies the modernistic principle of all-over color to activate the canvas and flatten the picture plane; and like Bonnard, many of these works were painted tacked to the wall, then cropped into window-like glimpses into a moment.

My process begins out on the land.

There I sketch, paint, template and collect artifacts which then inform my studio practice. Materials are central to these discussions. My work combines layers of paint, ink, graphite, and other materials to simultaneously construct and deconstruct.

Each year I create a limited number of more dimensional assemblages.

These cutout works have allowed me to introduce a range of new materials including archival and repurposed papers, vinyl paints, acrylic mediums, feathers, insects, rope, charcoal remains from a forest fire, disintegrating antique book pages, mica, shards of pottery, along with other objects found while out in nature. Each assemblage highlights a specific geography, with its flora and fauna as well as its tangled history. I consider them land portraits.

… these spaces, this nature …
ils sont très inspirants,
ils sont très beaux,
ils sont très fragile.

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cameron ritcher

form + novelty

recent works on panel

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cameron wilson ritcher is a swiftly emerging artist who graduated from james madison university in 2017 with ba in studio art. cameron accepted the school’s award for a graduating senior with a concentration in painting, among numerous other awards and scholarships. cameron's paintings were recently including in made in va biennial at the virginia museum of contemporary art. he currently works from his studio in richmond, va where he lives with his wife, emily, brand new baby girl sarah and their cat, louie.

“i’ve always been a play-oriented person, but as i’ve matured i’ve recognized my tendency toward organization. these two traits, which initially seem at odds, complement each other quite well. routine and habit allow room for innovation; pattern gives structure to play. the desire to create order out of a beautiful, yet chaotic world is a defining aspect of what it means to be human.

this body of work is a culmination of a visual language of icons and shapes that i’ve compiled from a wide array of sources including ancient egyptian hieroglyphs, religion, agriculture, architecture + design, physics, and mathematics. i’ve begun to refer to the icons as my alphabet.

before the vernacular series and the grid pattern that is its trademark, i noticed myself taking inventory of the symbols in my alphabet on a scrap piece of cardboard. the grid format was a utilitarian way to organize information. i found myself drawn to it, not in spite of its utility but because of it.

the novel forms and small shapes are sculptures derived from my paintings and deal with dimension vs. flatness, material, and objectivity through the same alphabet used in my paintings.

the pools series began as a puddle of wet paint on the studio floor - initially an inconvenience, then a miracle. the pools may be dismissed by some as material studies. i prefer to think of them as material worship.”

— cameron ritcher

all available work by each artist can be viewed on our website under their individual tabs including sizing + pricing. hidell brooks gallery is by appointment. please call the gallery if you have any further questions.