Humans have spent millennia constructing — whether that be infrastructural, residential, or commercial. Humans also leave much abandoned, which is when nature conquers once more.
On view through August 6 in Stowe, Vermont, at West Branch Gallery is a compelling solo exhibition of oil and encaustic works by Charlie Hunter. Titled “Rail Town Noir,” the exhibition is Hunter’s most recent display of a familiar theme: the beauty found in nature’s reclaiming of manmade things.
Charlie Hunter, “My Favorite Boxcar,” oil on linen, 10 x 20 in. (c) West Branch Gallery 2016
The subject is one that hits close to home for the artist, as he calls the banks of the Connecticut River in an old mill town in Vermont home. “There, I like to paint what nature does to what man creates,” Hunter suggests. “I tend to use a monochromatic ‘earth palette’ blend of ultramarine blue, viridian, yellow ochre, and burnt sienna. Sometimes I do an underpainting from life, then, in the studio, apply transparent glazes on top. My goal is to paint beautifully that which is not traditionally considered beautiful. Like a less grotesque Anselm Keifer in a considerably better mood.”
To learn more, visit West Branch Gallery.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
