Kenneth Nicholson, “Apparitions (Coitus Interrupts Us),” 2017

Viewers have a chance to see a range of dynamic narrative paintings by a skillful artist who seeks to depict extreme melodrama and disrupt figure/background interplay. Sound interesting?

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will open on December 8 a fascinating solo exhibition of paintings by Kenneth Nicholson. On view through February 4, “Dark Matter” is as much an exercise of the mind as it is the eyes. Nicholson’s engaging pictures present a fragmented reality, juxtaposing strong, planar elements with distorted figures and interiors. According to the press release, the extreme melodrama depicted and disruption between figure/background interplay “releases the character’s inner drama into the negative space.” The artist himself added, “There is a particular way that a shadow smacks against the wall behind to people eagerly avoiding eye contact. As one slips out of awareness, the weight of the room takes their place.”

To learn more, visit the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

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.


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Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster is the former Editor of Fine Art Today and worked as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.

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