52nd Annual New Hampshire Art Association Exhibition Opens
The New Hampshire Art Association
Exhibition, one of the most popular annual events at The Currier Gallery
of Art, opened to the public Saturday, January 16, 1999. For over half a
century, the Currier and the New Hampshire Art Association have collaborated
to provide some of New Hampshire's most prominent artists with a venue to
exhibit their work. The 1999 exhibition features more than 75 works by 60
of New Hampshire's finest contemporary artists working in all media, including
oil painting, watercolors, works on paper, photography, and sculpture. Art
works range from traditional subjects to experimental works that explore
contemporary aesthetic issues.
The show, which is sponsored by TF Moran and Keystone Press,
is a juried exhibition with prizes awarded in various categories. The juror
for this year's exhibition was Amy Schlegel, independent curator and Visiting
Professor, University of Vermont. The top prize,"The Currier Gallery
of Art Award" goes to the "Best of Show." This year The Currier
Gallery of Art Award was presented to Stratham artist Jennifer Benn for
her oil on canvas work Koi in Cadmium Golds, a brightly colored composition
featuring overlapping patterns of swimming goldfish. 
"Juried exhibitions are the building blocks of any
young artist's career and I was delighted to serve as juror for this exhibition,"
said Ms. Schlegel."The artists singled out for awards this year represent,
in my opinion, the most exciting work submitted. It is my hope that the
Art Association's members, art students, and unaffiliated artists will be
inspired and encouraged by these exemplary works," Schlegel added.
Other award recipients include Patrick M. Richard of Hampton Falls whose
oil on canvas work Wedding Day Repast, 1901 depicting a romantic
Victorian era encounter won the Friel Award for originality. 
The Sugar House, a vigorously
painted oil on canvas contemporary interpretation of a traditional New Hampshire
landscape by Stephanie Blackstock of Alton Bay, received the New London
Trust Award for best painting with a New England theme. Keene artist Craig
Stockwell's vibrant The Grief of Man was the E. R. Aubrey Award winner
for painting, and Handmade Houses, a delicate woodcut with powdered
pigment on handmade paper by Elizabeth Mayor of Hanover, received the Ezekial
A. Straw Award. Tim Gaudreau of Portsmouth was the Jefferson Pilot Financial
Award winner for creativity for his work Caught In A Moment With Johanna,
an unusual technical piece featuring a digital reproduction of a highly
manipulated Polaroid. In all, 15 awards were presented. 
"Seeing the fine body of work presented and selecting
the award winners was a challenging process and underscored the message
that one does not need to live in New York or other urban centers to produce
thoughtful, high quality art," said Ms. Schlegel. "It also taught
me that one's relationship to a sense of place, particularly such a beautiful
area of the country as northern New England, deeply affects and imbues the
art work, regardless of whether that sense of feeling "connected"
is reflected in the work's subject matter. I hope that visitors will feel
as privileged to see such a range of media, subjects, and technical innovations
as I feel in having had the opportunity to select the individual works,"
Ms. Schlegel concluded. 
The 52nd Annual New Hampshire Art Association Exhibition is open through February 22, 1999.
From top to bottom: Tim Gaudreau, Caught In A Moment With Johanna, Polaroid emulsion transfer, 1998; Patrick M. Richard, Wedding Day Repast, 1901 , oil on canvas, 1998; Stephanie Blackstock, The Sugar House, oil on canvas, 1998; Jennifer Benn, Koi in Cadmium Golds, oil on canvas, 1998; Elizabeth Mayor, Handmade Houses, woodcut and powdered pigment on handmade paper. All photos by Dave Juvet.
rev. 9/20/10
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