MOTIF | an Exhibition of work by Creighton Michael

MOTIF SERIES
On View: March 9 – May 4, 2024

The Pound Ridge Library is honored to host an exhibition of the works of Creighton Michael.  The exhibition will feature the artist’s Motif series which has never been shown before. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 9 at 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

After receiving his M.A. in art history from Vanderbilt University and a M.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis Creighton Michael moved to New York City in 1978. A grant recipient of a Pollack Krasner, a NYFA and Golden Foundation award, his work can be found in various collections including the Brooklyn Museum, High Museum, Metropolitan Museum, National Gallery, McNay Art Museum, Ogden Museum and The Phillips Collection. Michael has had solo exhibitions at the High Museum, Katonah Museum, The Queens Museum Bulova Center, Neuberger Museum and The Mint Museums, as well as numerous galleries and art centers both nationally and internationally. Abroad he has had solo exhibitions in Copenhagen, Montreal, and Reykjavík. As an educator, Michael has been on the faculty at R.I.S.D., Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Princeton University and Hunter College. Recent exhibition credits as a curatorial producer are, The Art of Rube Goldberg; Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936—Present; Mutual Muses: The Collaborative Life of James Seawright and Mimi Garrard, and Uncharted: American Abstraction in the Information Age.

The Motif series

The paintings of the Motif series are the product of two unique marking strategies both using a motion capture process but deviate in their use of time and color. These works explore drawing activity through two contrary markings systems, deferred and direct. With deferred marking, translucent layers from previous brush strokes supply a thin ground of prismatic color. In the direct approach, a network of connected gestures creates a lattice of opaque pigment that appears to undulate over the luminous veneer below partially concealing or interrupting its counterpart’s rhythms. Attempting to capture the competing activities on and below the picture plane, the viewer often experiences a shifting spatial ambiguity similar to peering into a slow-moving stream

Gallery hours:
Tuesday through Friday – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday – 10:00 to 5:00 pm
Sunday, Monday – Closed