Adria Arch "Passing Strange" in Staunton, VA

Passing Strange at the Hunt Gallery, Mary Baldwin College features new work by Adria Arch on view January 12–30, 2015. Adria credits her April 2012 residency at VCCA as the reason for the show. It was then that she met Dinah Ryan, also in residence. A critic of contemporary art and visual culture, and an independent curator, Dinah has been she has been a contributing editor for Art Papers magazine since 1992. Dinah’s husband, Paul Ryan, is the Hunt Gallery’s director.

Based in Arlington, Massachusetts, Adria is a mixed-media artist who produces striking compositions that pair strong graphic elements and intense color. There is a purposeful rightness to her compositions despite the fact that Adria incorporates bits of chance in the form of doodles and paint spills: “I look at the edges of things: the eccentric and unpredictable shapes found in unexpected places such as the puddles and pools of spilled paint and the overlooked doodle found in the margins of a notebook, or the swooping lines of tar patches on asphalt after a hard winter … I begin each piece by pouring and pooling paint onto thin plastic, allowing the colors to disperse and blend naturally. When the puddles dry, I cut out the most interesting shapes. These forms become central to my work and I respond to them with additional painting and collage. A narrative is suggested but not pinned down.”

Adria’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited throughout New England and nationally at a variety of venues, including Bromfield Gallery (Boston, MA), Danforth Museum of Art (Danforth, MA) and the Joseph Gross Gallery (Tucson, AZ) among others. Adria’s work is in numerous public, corporate, and private collections, including the Boston Public Library, the Library of Congress Collection of Prints, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She is also a technical consultant for GOLDEN Artist Colors and teaches privately and at local museums and art centers.

A closing reception will be held on January 28 (4:30 to 6:00 PM).

http://adriaarch.com/home.html


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