ON VIEW: March 13th -May 8th 2010.
RECEPTION: Wednesday, April 7th, 6:30pm
ARTIST INTERVIEW AND DISCUSSION: Wednesday, April 7th, 7:30pm
Paul Graubard will discuss his long career and Pittsfield’s development in conversation with his wife and poet, Karen Chase, moderated by gallery co-owner, Donald Clark
CLOSING CONVERSATION: Saturday, May 8th, 5:00 pm
With the artist and Ute Stebich, expert in Haitian and outsider art, and Director of the Ute Stebich Gallery, Lenox, 1990 – 2004
Stories from the Bible and Other Places is a show of both recent and older works by artist Paul Graubard of Lenox MA. The work, created in acrylic paint, fabric, paper and objects arranged on canvas and wood, depicts personal experiences, ethnic traditions and Biblical stories. Like other Folk and Outsider Artists, Graubard employs rich colors and simple forms in complex compositions to create narratives built from a straightforward aesthetic and process. “Like dance and music, painting requires rhythm and flow, movement, action and tension. I work to make my paintings twirl and surprise,” says Graubard. “There is a Chassidic belief that one can thank the Lord for the gift of life and its bounties by singing, dancing and engaging in joyful creation. This philosophy is a guiding force behind my paintings. My work comes out of a need to celebrate life. This in turn is inspired by my experience of marriage, the Sabbath and Festivals. The spirit is universal.”
Graubard’s upbringing in a traditional Romanian household and his interests in music, religion, fantasy and folk stories are the subjects of his paintings. Not formally trained as an artist, he worked as a teacher, professor, and a psychologist until abandoning his practice and working as a painter full time. In 2000 he participated in a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and in 2004 traveled to Delhi, India for a residency with the Sanskriti Foundation which impacted his paintings immensely.
Paul Graubard’s mixed media paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout the Northeast in group and solo exhibitions including the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD. This is his first solo show with Ferrin Gallery.
