Harold Reddicliffe: New Paintings
Oct 10 – Nov 5, 2022 at Gallery NAGA
October opens with a full-gallery exhibition of new paintings by Harold Reddicliffe. Bursting with nuanced color and object relationships, Reddicliffe’s paintings have never been so overtly assertive. This exhibition marks Reddicliffe’s 50th year of professionally exhibiting his work.
Harold Reddicliffe: New Paintings will open to the public on Friday, October 7. The artist will be present on Saturday, October 15 and October 29, from 2 to 4 pm. There will be no opening reception. Gallery NAGA is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5 pm, with no appointment necessary.
In a statement for the exhibition, Reddicliffe writes,
There are three obvious differences between this group of paintings and those in the previous NAGA shows. First is size. The dimensions range from 4×4” up to 9×12”, the only exception being a transitional painting from 2019 which measures 6×19”. My explanation for the consistently small format was time. The level of complexity I wanted to achieve was possible only if the area to be explored in each painting was kept to a minimum.
Second, there is a new emphasis on a particular aspect of color. The paintings in previous shows were characterized by relatively simple passages of color gradation. In this show, there is a sustained attempt to analyze and accurately describe the interaction of areas of adjacent color. Consequently, the hue, value and intensity of each shape is seen as reflecting similar aspects of every surrounding shape.
Finally, and most significantly, the character of the subjects of most of the paintings has changed. Previous shows were about revisiting or actually celebrating some of my favorite examples of mid-twentieth century industrial design: cameras, projectors, ice crushers and cigarette lighters. Because of the unprecedented transformation of our culture in recent years, it seemed appropriate to invent eccentric or even unsettling relationships between objects that are themselves unusual: marbles and origami swans, neatly stacked then tumbled boxes, gloves and umbrellas twisted into almost unrecognizable shapes, feral staplers, and threatening corkscrews. Where this is going, I can’t begin to imagine but can’t wait to find out.
Born in Houston in 1947, Harold Reddicliffe received his B.A. from Williams College, and his M.F.A. in 1973 from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Reddicliffe’s teaching includes positions at the Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio from 1977-1984, and Boston University’s College of Fine Arts from 1987-2015. He has been the recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the Artist’s Resource Trust.