hidell brooks gallery is pleased to present three solo exhibitions of new paintings by brad aldridge, helen robinson and kate long stevenson. 3 painters, 3 styles of painting from realism to abstract. shown together they exhibit a range of techniques each cultivated over years of studio exploration. brad aldridge’s landscapes depict nature through a painter’s eye. his compositions draw the viewer into a lush, verdant escape of calm stillness. through combining text-based art and the figure, helen robinson has create a unique method to deliver her thought provoking messages to her audience. she was inspired by vintage t-shirts and the simple phrases that convey so much power. south carolina based painter kate long stevenson explores abstraction through brushwork with music playing an integral role in her studio practice. her layered compositions hint at the complexity hidden beneath the surface.
contemporary landscape painter brad aldridge was born in japan in 1965. his father's service in the military took the family from japan to several locations across the united states. aldridge earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at brigham young university in utah, a professional printer certification at tamarind institute of lithography in new mexico and a master of fine arts degree from the university of arkansas. aldridge paints pictures which range from epic to intimate, each evoking an idyllic calm and each imbued with his hopeful vision of the world. he carefully hand crafts each frame on his paintings using gold and silver leaf.
“art needs a reason to exist. that’s what a college professor once told me, and i think it’s true. painting is communication when shared with others, and when one communicates, they should have a point. intimate conversations should convey something that is worth saying. ideally, they share a glimpse into precisely who the person really is, what they really think and feel.
when i communicate, when i paint the world around me, my best paintings are suffused with my temperament and sensibilities, my views on the big questions of existence. the world in which i find myself is often filled with hard adversity in an uncertain tangled present, to be sure. but often in nature, i am surprised by some exquisite scene, the profile of a tree against a pale blue sky, the last red light of day on the west mountains near my home, or a glowing distant horizon. these moments remind me of a hopeful something, “a far-off country,” “a better country.” i want my paintings to echo what nature teaches so well, that dawn follows the darkest night, and that in spite of a long hard winter, spring comes again.””
helen robinson is an artist based out of connecticut. she received her bachelor’s degree in studio art and art history at vanderbilt university in 2013 and continues to build her own body of work in her studio a converted old historic horse barn. helen’s work focuses on conceptual portraiture that explores the nature of representation and the limitless potential of the human figure as a subject. she uses non-traditional portraiture to consider modes of representation and self-expression. her paintings are all derived from photographs and studies and are mostly documentary in style. overall, helen's work expresses human connection and social interactions based on our relationship to our surroundings and one another. helen’s figurative paintings explore modes of self-expression and new manners of communication, most recently in the form of clothing and t-shirts.
helen robinson in her studio an old converted horse barn
expressionist painter kate long stevenson was born and raised in north carolina, and began her professional career while a student at the university of the south. gestural brushstrokes and a passion for color are characteristic to all of her pieces, ranging from figurative paintings to abstracts. a life-long lover of music, kate relies on mostly classical compositions to guide her as she builds a painting, layering chords of color over energetic swirls of charcoal and paint. "it's important to me that my paintings have a subject, despite how non-subjective some can seem. with my nude paintings, the figure is the vehicle that invites you to discover the true subject: the elements--the way it was painted. the abstracts have just skipped that introduction, altogether, but they're still about something--music, tempo, motion and emotion. it all comes from a feeling, but then the challenge is not only to translate that to the canvas but to have it make sense, compositionally." kate lives in charleston, south carolina with her two sons.
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.