Press release

The Baldwin Gallery is pleased to present new oil paintings by acclaimed contemporary artist Pat Steir. One of the most highly regarded painters working today, Steir employs a visual vocabulary of fluid abstraction that analyzes the process of painting and often references art history. Compositions of cascading waterfalls emerge naturally from her unique technique of pouring, flinging and dripping paint. For many years she has continued the development of her signature waterfall imagery, which evokes tranquility and beauty. Since the 1970s, Pat Steir’s paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Belgium, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Sweden.

In addition to earning a BFA and an honorary doctorate of fine art from Pratt Institute, Steir received an alumni honoree from Boston University. Her talent has been recognized with several awards from the National Endowment of the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her paintings are in major museum collections including those of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art. The artist lives and works in New York and Amsterdam.

Also showing at the Baldwin Gallery will be Annette Lemieux’s latest visual exploration, entitled “Flowers and Song”. Internationally recognized for her use of diverse media to convey complex and thought-provoking concepts, the artist shows new paintings, sculptural objects and works on paper, as well as protest song lyrics silk-screened on printed fabrics.

Combining iconic elements from Renaissance art history with 20th century counter-culture references, Lemieux creates a narrative that connects to issues of the present day. Among other sources, she draws inspiration from Sandro Botticelli’s famous 15th century painting “La Primavera”, which portrays a meadow filled with spring flowers as an idyllic setting for interaction between various mythical deities. Lemieux references the figure of Mercury with his winged boots in her sculpture “Messenger”, where leather parachute jump boots are transformed and adorned with feathers.

The artist continues her exploration of symbolism generated by the peace and protest movements, as well as popular Americana in general. This impulse is exemplified by her appropriation of lyrics from the San Francisco band Country Joe and the Fish, whose music gave voice to anti-war sentiment. Lemieux silk screens these song lyrics onto fabric featuring cowboy motifs to create new paintings. She cites Aspen’s Wild West locale and historic cowboy culture, with its classic “good guys vs. bad guys” dichotomy, as an additional aesthetic influence. Carnations appear in wood gun chargers in the sculpture “Hey Joe,” while images of flowers and nature, along with the artist’s sense of humor, provide optimism for the future.

Annette Lemieux is a Professor in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, England, Holland, Mexico, Sweden and throughout the United States. After earning a B.F.A. from the University of Hartford in Connecticut, Lemieux was awarded a Pollock/Krasner Foundation Grant and has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for painting and drawing. The artist lives and works in Boston.

Images are available upon request. Please call 970.920.9797 for further information.