Collage show opens at Hull's One Whitney Thursday evening

Hull's One Whitney
1 Whitney Ave., New Haven, (203) 907-0320
Significant Form: Works in Collage
Apr. 9—May 26, 2009.
Opening reception: Thurs., Apr. 9, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

Two area artists, Eugene Healy and Rex Prescott Walden will exhibit their works in collage at an upcoming show at Hulls Fine Framing & Gallery located at One Whitney Avenue in New Haven. The show is open to the public and will run Apr. 9 through May 26. An opening reception is scheduled for Thurs., Apr. 9, from 5—8 p.m. The Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m.—6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Eugene Healy's collages have been essayed by Peter Hastings Falk: "He is one of the few abstract painters today who have clearly grasped "significant form" that is, the orchestration of lines, shapes, and colors into certain combinations and relationships so that the completed work evokes an aesthetic ecstasy. They move us. It's just that simple . . . yet so immensely difficult to pull off. Many of Healy's paintings are abstractions of shore scenes, being places that have evoked particular moods and feelings in the artist. And it is those feelings that he so effectively materializes with paint, sand, fragments of printed fabrics, even pieces of window screens."

Rex Prescott Walden succinctly expresses his work as "the making of art is nothing but a series of highs and lows. It is the search for the highs that enables the painter to continue. There is nothing more beautiful, or frightening, than the minimal perfection of a white canvas. Each mark one makes is a risk. The elusive and sometimes forgiving attributes of any medium coax me to continue. Keeping paint friendly is my goal. I know it can turn on me at any moment."

The term, "significant form" was likely best explained by British art critic, Clive Bell in "Art and Significant Form," (1913). The idea that we can view art with interest and admiration yet not be moved by it. Bell supposed that our aesthetic emotions remain unprovoked unless we "connect" with the art. That is to say, the art must communicate the ideas and information suggested by its forms rather than the form itself.

"This show is intended to demonstrate how these two artists have explored achieving significant form in their collages," commented Barbara Hawes, Gallery Manager. Hulls Fine Framing & Gallery is a part of the Hull's Art Supply & Framing family of suppliers based in New Haven since 1947.