fall is in the air and we are pumped to open 3 new exhibitions of recent paintings by gallery artists frank phillips, katy schneider and mary nelson sinclair. we have always been drawn to painters and these 3 are exceptional. up front in the gallery we have new york artist mary nelson sinclair’s abstract paintings. her most recent work is influenced by nature with blooms and vines twisting there way into her color washes. mary nelson excels in her restraint when approaching her canvases leaving breathing room for your mind to linger on the surfaces. katy schneider a longtime professor of art at smith college new swimmer series intrigued us from the get go. the swimmers glide, float and bop about on the panels. the cool palette mostly in shades of blue emit a peaceful tranquility instantly providing a peaceful, relaxing vibe. it is as if you can almost feel yourself swimming through the paintings. frank phillips use of color fields and lines bring order to his paintings. his layered canvases are built up and compiled into uniformed structures. frank achieves balance through composition and palette producing a calming presence to the viewing.
frank phillips has been creating art for over 20 years. he received his ba with high honors from hobart college in 1997 and received his mfa from the maryland institute college of art in 2005. at hobart, phillips was a decorated member of the men’s varsity soccer team. currently, he is an avid squash player. phillips works at st. anne’s-belfield school, where he teaches painting, drawing and is chair of the arts. at st. anne’s-belfield, frank phillips utilizes his athletic experience to coach squash. his passion for competition and physical activity directly influences his artwork. the paintings and drawings are products of his very physical process, and he embraces the work involved. frank, his wife meg, daughter bess, and brood of animals live in the greater charlottesville area.
my work uses a flat plane to convey the visual ideas of construction, mass, and volume. the formally arranged imagery is all invented, but takes cues from architecture and engineering (materials and the structures themselves), as well as the erosion and the decay of perceived ruin. the display of process is an integral component to the work; it tracks the time, mistakes, revisions, and the experience used to arrive to a resolved composition. the end results are pieces that embrace surface and relate the ideas of: the used, the weathered, the discarded, and the beaten. i aim to create a quiet calm to the work that is still able to convey a stoic presence.
at its core, the compositions are about physicality and decision making. the immediacy of drawing and painting allows me to attack spaces on the canvas. the size of the plane forces me to use my entire body; the act of painting, drawing, erasing, and sanding all require a certain balance of touch and force. one idea completion may necessitate removal, thereby initiating another physical activity. as an artist, i need the action, and the work needs to be work; the labor is chronicled in the surface as removed elements are never really gone, only ghosts of the materials’ (pencil, charcoal, and paint) permanence.
compositions are constructed primarily with line. line acts as a device for the illusion of suspension as well as enclosing or mapping a shape. there emerges a printmaking look to the surface (at times with embossed marks) achieved through rubbings and other treated materials. subsequently, the compositions read as a sort of blueprint. the line-play between the “exact” straightedge is offset by the “imperfect” hand and creates a diagrammed visual tension.
katy schneider’s work focuses on the power of light to tell stories. she is a twin in a family of nine. growing up in a small nyc apartment, her paintings harken back to this upbringing: making the most of a small space, organizing chaos and uncovering human dynamics. she received a ba from yale university and an mfa from indiana university. since 1990 she has taught all levels of painting and drawing at smith college. she is a recipient of a guggenheim and a national endowment for the arts fellowship, and awards from the national academy of design and the american academy of arts and letters. her work is in numerous collections, including the pennsylvania academy of fine arts, the new britain museum of american art and the smith college museum of art. she exhibits her paintings nationally and has also illustrated several award winning children’s books. among various awards she received the prestigious bank street college of education’s book award for “once i ate a pie” (harper collins), written by newbury award winning author patricia maclachlan and emily charest maclachlan. music is also part of her artistic practice. bands include jerks on the loose: a roches tribute band, katyland (original songs, voice, guitar, pedal steel guitar), and fancy trash (lap and pedal steel) with whom she recorded two albums: “3 cheers for the cheated” and “as is.”
“my goal in these paintings is to calm the viewer-cool off, escape, experience peace and quiet.”
mary nelson sinclair (b. 1984) is an american artist based in new york’s hudson valley. sinclair’s work draws from her everyday life and surroundings, conveying the act and process of painting itself and her surounding naturlistic landscape. the roles of artist and mother, have informed one another in her work and life - the artist/mother cannot have full control over either situation, but she can act as an intuitive guide in both scenarios. through the manipulation of different materials and their reaction with one another, the work begins to tell the story of its creation. saturated hues and bold gestures guide the composition of each piece, while the contrast and layering of mixed materials brings a depth to the canvas or paper without feeling overwrought. sinclair’s methods and techniques are constantly evolving through her experimentation with various mediums. often times, that experimentation becomes the central theme of a singular piece or an entire body of work.
mary nelson grew up in dallas, tx and received her bachelor of fine arts in painting and printmaking from the pratt institute in 2008. her work has been featured in architectural digest, cabana magazine, elle decor, veranda, house beautiful, domino and VOGUE.
in her newest works, mary nelson sinclair continues to explore the interaction of materials, allowing washes of pigment and unexpected textures to guide the direction of each piece. this openness to process gives the paintings their sense of spontaneity and atmosphere, where forms seem to emerge organically from the surface. while rooted in abstraction, the work increasingly leans toward representation—suggesting blossoms, horizons, or shifting skies with an impressionistic sensibility. by balancing control with chance, mary neslson creates images that feel both immediate and enduring, alive with the interplay of gesture, color, and natural reference.
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.