REBE C C A A L L A N L I G H T Y E A R
Design: Rita Lascaro
Photography: Jean Vong
Printing: Colonial Printing
R E B E C C A A L L A N LIGHT YEAR
January 6 through February 24, 2012
Longboat Key Center for the Arts/Ringling College of Art + Design
Little Dream of Norway I, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2012
2
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Longboat Key Center for the Arts/Ringling College of Art + Design
is pleased to present the work of Rebecca Allan. This exhibition of
vibrant and challenging paintings, inspired by the artist’s exploration
of the Florida Gulf Coast and other sites, also marks an exciting firsttime collaboration with The Hermitage Artist Retreat on Manasota
Key. As a 2011 artist-in-residence at The Hermitage, Allan created
a series of paintings that were incorporated into Horizon Lines
(a multidisciplinary work for oboe, bassoon, piano, and digital film)
in collaboration with composer Laura Kaminsky and filmmaker John
Feldman. Commissioned by the Seattle Chamber Music Society,
Horizon Lines was performed at LKCA on January 6, 2012, to celebrate
the opening of this special exhibition.
I met Rebecca Allan in 1998, when she was teaching art history and
serving as chair of the Design Department at Cornish College of
the Arts in Seattle. Her work has always celebrated the beauty and
majesty of the watershed landscape. I vividly remember her artistic
investigation of the varied landscapes of the Pacific Northwest—
a dedication that has continued and evolved as, many years later,
she now interprets the blue environs of the Gulf of Mexico. It is my
personal pleasure to experience anew Rebecca Allan’s romance with
painting and the visual poetry of her work.
Jane Buckman, Director
Longboat Key Center for the Arts/
Ringling College of Art + Design
3
4
Blue Lapidary Water, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 2012
5
6
Conversations with Veronese, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 2012
7
8
Bumblebee’s Flight Path, 40 x 60 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2012
9
10
Icon in the River (St. Petersburg), acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 2012
11
12
Equator Songs, 40 x 60 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2012
13
14
In My Light Year, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 2012
15
IN MY LIGHT YEAR
Painting is one of the most demanding, sacred, and worthy forms
of work that I can imagine performing. This endeavor is motivated
by my contemplation of the history of art, my study of the nature of
the observed world, and, finally, my desire to turn everything on its
head and make something entirely new. The light year—a measure of
distance—also metaphorically suggests the difficulty of creation (just
imagine, infinity!) as well as a new period of illumination in my work.
The works in this exhibition evolved over a long period of seeing
and thinking about specific places, but they ultimately reflect an
engagement with painting itself as an investigative and contemplative
journey. Places and things gave rise to these paintings: the lacework
pattern of icy whites against the greenish blacks of Norway’s fjords
viewed from the sky; the churning movement of Wappinger Creek as
it courses through the Hudson Valley; an unlikely bumblebee circling
lavender plants on our 19th-floor apartment terrace; a Russian icon; the
iridescent reflections on sunset water off Manasota Key.
Even when it is grounded in the visible world, a painting is a sensual
invention that conflates real and conjured experiences. Recollected
experiences are transmuted into form, color, and light, so that
each work contains a visual narrative that is revealed through the
alchemical qualities of paint. Conversations, imagined and real, with
artist predecessors (Veronese, Fairfield Porter, Joan Mitchell, Charles
Burchfield) and friends also influence the working process.
Rebecca Allan
The Hermitage Artist Retreat
January 2012
16
Tangerine/Wine Journée, 2011, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches
17
Little Dream of Norway II, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2012
18
Russet Tide, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2012
19
Evening Forms/Manasota Key, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2012
20
Thinking of Homer, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2012
Coral Mint Landscape, acrylic on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2012
21