Blue Dream
November 9 - December 21, 2024
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Caroline Absher (b. 1994 Greenville, South Carolina) received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in 2016. Her large scale portraits live in the space between figuration and abstraction. Using oil paint, Absher’s fluid and energetic brushstrokes compliment her vibrant color pallets, breathing life into her painted subjects. Absher lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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Bill Adams (b. 1957, New York City) received his MFA from Indiana University in 1986. He divides his time between Orient, NY and NYC. Adams produces ballpoint drawings, painting, and sculptures, often depicting reality through a whimsical and humorous lens.
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Katherine Bradford (b. 1942 New York) paints invented humans in dreamy settings. She applies thin layers of acrylic paint to create a glowing surface. Bradford juxtaposes simple, familiar characters with vibrant, fantastical fields of color. Her works explore themes of self identity, vulnerability and connection Bradford lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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Sean Cairns (b. 1988 Sparta, Illinois) received a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2014. Cairns’ paintings are influenced by color field painting and German expressionist painters, and they often pay homage to his upbringing in the Midwest. His work portrays tranquil landscapes in communion with human presence, texturized by sand, collage and impasto painting techniques. Cairns lives and works in Dallas, Texas.
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Meg Cranston (b. 1960 Baldwin, New York) received a Masters of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts in 1986. Cranston creates abstract paintings and sculptures relying heavily on color, lines and composition. Her work is playful and whimsical, taking inspiration from past artists and movements. Cranston has been exhibiting internationally since 1988, and her work can be found in major museum collections. She lives and works in Venice, California.
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Carla Edwards (b. Illinois) received a Masters of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design. She is a multidisciplinary artist working in sculpture, performance, drawing and video to examine themes of identity, self and visual culture. Employing a ritualistic and laborious process, her work is highly symbolic, relying on appropriated materials and images, like the American flag, to assert a deeper commentary. Edwards lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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Pam Glick (b. 1956 Albany, Georgia) received her Masters of Fine Arts at University of Buffalo in 2018 and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design in 1980. Glick works in abstraction, influenced by place, energy and reverence, layering paint and pencil marks to create organic yet geometric patterns. Niagara Falls remains one of her most treasured subjects. Glick lives and works in New York, New York.
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Trulee Hall (b. 1976 Atlanta, Georgia) received a Masters of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts in 2006. Hall’s practice includes video, sculpture, painting, audio composition and dance, curating immersive viewing experiences that challenge the audience’s relationship to art. Her work explores motifs of the domestic, the decorative and the erotic with the intention of celebrating femininity. Hall lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
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Ava McDonough (b. 1999 Charlottesville, Virginia) is a self-taught artist based in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Cornell University in 2021, majoring in Environmental Science. Her practice includes various mediums of painting, sculpture, and printmaking. After a severe accident in 2020, she shifted her life’s focus to making art. This experience continues to inform her artistic practice as she uses her subconscious, memories, and poetry as inspiration.
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Ryan McGinley (b. 1977 New Jersey) is a New York–based photographer. His early photos displayed the unseen intersection of Skateboard and Graffiti culture with a strong Queer focus. At the age of twenty-five, he became the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. For almost two decades, McGinley has road tripped continuously throughout the United States to create work that incorporates the human body within the American landscape. McGinley frequently has solo gallery and museum exhibitions around the world and is also an active advocate for Queer and LGBTQIA+ rights.
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Dena Novak (b. 1968 Chicago, Illinois) received a Masters of Fine Arts from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1997. Novak builds up thick layers of vibrant paint to create her sculptural paintings, establishing a physicality that transcends the flat canvas. Paint functions as both her muse and medium. The raw texture and emotion of her work is influenced by her experience with autism and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and her artistic practice is a tangible outlet that reflects her own complexity. Novak lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
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Aaron Michael Skolnick was born in 1989 in Erlanger, Kentucky. He received a BFA from the University of Kentucky in 2012. He is currently based in New York State. Uncomfortable moments of pure emotion, motivational quotes, and transformative portraits define Skolnick’s most recent work. Informed by Andy Kaufman’s absurdist performances and his audience’s equally intriguing reactions, he works in pursuit of assumptions and second-guessing. Previous solo exhibitions include Under the Eyes of a Dry Mountain at MARCH (New York, NY), Between Two Suns at MARCH (Taylor County, KY), Your Voice Lying Gently In My Ear at Institute 193 (1B) (New York, NY) and Feel It on Their Faith at Incident Report (Hudson, NY).
Blue is the predominant color on our planet, universally symbolizing peace, tranquility, and inspiration. Its infinite hues, shades, and tints feel innately empathetic, and the color has a transcendent and spiritual quality, making it accessible to all. The air above us and the oceans covering this planet come to life in blue, and in some regard, our futures are linked to this staying true.
If blue were to take the form of a dream, it would ideally spring forth as a blissful euphoria that is hopeful and open, like a celestial sky. But in the wrong state of mind or circumstances, blue dreams and feelings can easily sway across the divide, coming to life as visions of despair and sadness. In either manifestation, these dreams generally have a surreal and otherworldly edge.
The exhibition Blue Dream highlights artworks by twelve artists united by cerulean palettes that drift towards the softer, more boundless, and buoyant side of this monochromatic spectrum. Some artists featured in the show reflect on the long history of a color so deeply revered and explored by artists throughout the ages; others delve into the more psychological and emotional implications of such a vast color. A few directly highlight the political connections and connotations of blue, given the show’s intentional proximity to the 2024 United States presidential election.
Each artist leans into the beauty and promise of this color with visions and imagery that push toward a brighter future. However, despite existing in this hopeful blue realm, their works are also tinged with an awareness of the darker, less romantic potential of feeling blue and the reality that the freedoms tied to this color are no longer a given.
