AWARDS OF THE NATIONAL SHOW: CONNECTED LAND & SEA
The Copley Society of Art is proud to present a National Marine Art Exhibition featuring works from artists across the United States. Coastal New England is the inspiration for “Connected Land & Sea”, recognizing the Copley Society of Art’s legacy in the region and reflecting the important intersections between the land and the sea.
This exhibition begins on Thursday, June 17th at the Copley Society of Art located at 158 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116, and continues through Sunday, August 22nd.
All prizes were awarded by the nationally-recognized marine artist, Donald Demers.
Congratulations to all of the award winners in this exhibition!
First Prize: Mercury Rising by Katherine Richmond
Second Prize: Leviathan by Serena Bates
Third Prize: Opus 4 Symphony of Rust by Austin Dwyer
The Alden Bryan Memorial Award for Traditional Landscape Painting in Oil: Twilight by James Magner
The Gazzola Family Award for Exceptional Watercolor: Dunes of Memory by Ginny Zanger, CA
Comments Below by Show Curator and Juror, Donald Demers
First Prize: Katherine Richmond, Mercury Rising, photography, 22×30”
“This photograph by Katherine Richmond is an intense redefinition and identity of something that is familiar to all of us. Many of us have spent time by the shore watching the waves break, but here there’s a heightened intensity and a focus on rediscovery of the energy in this water. It has a hydrodynamic component to it that is suspended in time between something that has happened, something that is happening, and something that is about to happen. It’s an entirely new and yet very familiar look at the ocean that can be best described as unique, singular, and exceptionally intense.”
Second Prize: Serena Bates, Leviathan, hydrostone, 10x8x18”
“This portrayal of an octopus, with its visual beauty, is so exceptional. With no beginning or end to this sculpture, the work offers itself to the viewer, organically flowing from its positive spaces to the negative spaces it occupies.
It’s particularly enchanting and enhanced by the exceptional finish, the patina in its glaze, and the complexities of the finish. These elements are dedicated to the subject itself, but are also metaphoric, symbolic, and emblematic of the sea. They pay homage to this fascinating creature in its habitat.
It’s a static depiction and yet the object is moving right in front of our eyes, expanding our perspective and senses in many ways. It’s a unique and extremely artistic portrayal of this aquatic subject.”
Third Prize: Austin Dwyer, Opus 4 Symphony of Rust, oil, 38×28”
“Human beings have been plying the seas for centuries and centuries. They have constructed vessels that traverse the sea from one point to another, all across the globe, for commercial reasons, for military reasons, and for reasons of pleasure. This contraption, which is a uniquely remarkable and awkward machine, has been engineered by humans to find its way around the sea. In this painting, Dwyer portrays the rusty watercraft in caricature form, emphasizing the passage of time.
Opus 4 Symphony of Rust celebrates humankind’s clumsy efforts to be upon the sea, and celebrates its own awkwardness. The painting is emphasized with effective lighting and a muted background that invites the viewer to the stern quarter of this vessel. It’s not particularly easy to find beauty in a subject that is this industrial. Through texture, materials, and color, Austin Dwyer effectively showcases and celebrates maritime history, the human relationship with the sea, and this unique and aged watercraft.”
Alden Bryan Memorial Award: James Magner, Twilight, oil, 18×30”
“Anyone who has spent time along the coast has witnessed the silvery, delicate light that exists early and late in the day or under mutable conditions. This work successfully observes and captures the profound nature of the sea as it rides up along a soft shore and collapses.
The coloration in this works evokes emotion and a soft mood. There is so much truth to how the sea and the land interact. The asymmetrical, strong, and abstract composition enhances the expansiveness of the picture. Magner’s painting goes beyond the confines of its frame through its light, its scent, and its texture. This work evokes many more of the senses beyond just the visual.
It is well executed because there’s not only one strong color in it. It’s predicated upon the interaction of color relativity and muted neutrals harmonizing in the piece. The flow, the rhythm, the evocation of different senses, and the fact that it’s so visually well-constructed convinced me to recognize this piece.”
Gazzola Family Award: Ginny Zanger, CA, Dunes of Memory, watercolor, 30×30”
“There’s everything from abstract expressionism to allusions to Andrew Wyeth suspended in this work – Dunes of Memory is a painting that is coalescent of modernism and traditionalism. It’s a union of something that is very familiar, and at the same time, something absolutely brand new.
The word representational means to re-present and Ginny Zanger has presented the viewer with a familiar scene. The artist gives us a look at the new territory that she has paved for us with this expressive technique. There’s so much virtuosity in the way that Zanger handles her medium. If you stand back from this painting by 30 feet or so, it takes on a more familiar context. As you move closer to it, it delves further into the unknown and into the abstract. The combination of two consciousnesses manifests in this remarkable watercolor. I appreciate this work from a technical and conceptual standpoint. The artist has re-presented and reintroduced sand dunes in this painting.”