Sunday reception for Loomis show at Claire's

Claire's Corner Copia
1000 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-3888
Henry L. Loomis: Works on Paper and Canvas
July 1—July 31, 2007.
Artist Reception: Sun., July 1, 4—7 p.m.

Press release

"I love the joy I get from being creative," says Harry Loomis."I mainly paint and draw, attaining much of my artistic inspiration from animals, my religious beliefs, my family, and other artists."

Loomis is a 1968 M.F.A. graduate from the Yale University School of Art, where he studied with artists like Al Held, Lester Johnson, Jack Tworkov and Bernard Chaet. He also recalls that the Color Study classes there, based on the teachings of Josef Albers, had a strong influence on his development as a painter. Albers was most noted for his abstract explorations of how colors interact in chromatic progressions. Loomis has applied Albers' point of view in even more surprising, imaginative and vital ways. Loomis also studied one summer at the Skowhegan School of Art in Maine.

Shortly after graduating from Yale, Loomis began experiencing symptoms that were later diagnosed as schizophrenia. "Schizophrenia," he says, "can contribute to the making of good art-art that is different and fresh, and therefore better." He is currently a member of Fellowship Place.

Loomis frequently paints figures merging with landscapes, both rural and urban, employing an awareness of subtle, powerful, and potential energies which reveal ever newer visions which emerge from the depths into light, and resolve into positive thought forms. Loomis' historical outlook also peers into the spiritual beauty and texture of 14th century painter Petrus Christus, the 2-dimensional story worlds of Henry Matisse, the anti-gravity of Fernand Leger, and the underlying transformative geometry of Piet Mondrian.

For thirty years, Loomis has exhibited his work in group shows, including exhibits at Munson's Gallery in New Haven, the Chris Butler Group in Branford, Rose Farm Gallery in East Haddam, the New Haven Paint & Clay Club, and the Margaret Bodell Gallery in New York City. He has had one-person shows at the York Square Cinema Gallery and two solo shows at Yale University's Pierson College. His work was included in an Art Across America exhibit for artists with Disabilities and a Very Special Artists show in Hartford, where he was awarded 1st Prize.

There will be an artist's reception for the Loomis show at Claire's Corner Copia restaurant this Sunday, July 1, 4—7 p.m.