FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Darren Waterston

 Recent Watercolors
October 19 – November 16, 2002

Throughout his career Darren Waterston has produced watercolors in tandem with his oil paintings. His fascination with aqueous environments finds full form in subject and medium in his current exhibition at Charles Cowles Gallery. These works emphasize the dichotomy inherent in all of his works: carefree drips and fluid seepings combine with meticulous renderings of vegetation, threaded beads and objects of Waterston’s invention.

Waterston’s fantastical vistas are devoid of true horizon lines and traditional landmarks. His viscous scenes are ambiguous; some verge on anatomical views into a fictional body while others hint at tropical flora of an imaginary locale. Laden with a personal lexicon of spiritual ciphers, Waterston’s imagery has always wavered between benign and uncanny: dreamy worlds of subtle colors are invaded with unknown and vaguely ominous forms. He has an affinity with Romantic landscape; the bounty of its beauty and nurturing qualities are tinged with the portentous side of nature’s indifference.

The Bellevue Art Museum, WA, is organizing an exhibition of Waterston’s recent paintings, which will open January 17, 2003, and subsequently will travel to additional venues. The newly opened Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville is planning a small retrospective exhibition of Waterston’s oeuvre to open in January 2004. Waterston’s works are included in distinguished public collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, Seattle Art Museum, and The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu.

Waterston’s recent monograph published by St. Ann’s Press is available for sale ($65).

The exhibition will be on view at the Charles Cowles Gallery, 537 West 24th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues in Chelsea. Hours are 10am to 6pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, November 7 from 6-8 pm.

For further information or photographs, please contact the gallery.

Above image: Pink Flush No.2, 2002, watercolor on paper, 16 x 12 ¼”