Tory Cowles: Living LARGE! opens July 2

Tory Cowles: Living LARGE!

Exhibition Dates: July 2 – August 14
Reception: July 14, 6-8pm; awards ceremony @ 7pm with juror, Harry Cooper, Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art

Special Programming: July 28, 6-8pm; Art Panel: Why does art move you?
July 30, 11am -1pm; Kids Art Activity – painting inspired by Tory Cowles exhibition

The Target Gallery will present this year’s Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s (Friends) Artist of the Year, Tory Cowles, with a solo exhibition in the gallery. The exhibition, which runs from July 2 – August 14, will have a special reception and awards ceremony to celebrate the artist on July 14 from 6-8pm. At 7pm, the Friends will present the artist with a $1000 award for being selected as this year’s artist of the year. Juror, Harry Cooper will say a few words during the ceremony about his selection. All events are free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served.

An abstract painter, Ms. Cowles’ background was in three-dimensional work such as stonewall building, woodworking, interior design, architecture, and carpentry, and her paintings were representational landscapes and portraits. When she started painting abstracts, she was able to incorporate the challenges and appeal of her previous 3D work onto the 2D canvas.

For her exhibit, Ms. Cowles will present a series of abstract paintings as large as 60” by 72” and diptychs, which are 48” by 120”. These sizes excite her because they encourage looseness and make a huge impact. A recurring theme in Cowles’ work is strong bright colors, which give energy and joy tempered by serious darks and subdued grays. Complex movement draws the eye throughout and around the painting as tension is created between spontaneity and discipline. Tory incorporates boldness and subtlety within the painting while allowing each quality to hold its own.

Cowles’ paintings combine stream of consciousness, abstract expressionism, and disciplined critical analysis. She paints from the heart and hopes that viewers are moved to respond from the heart.

Her 2010 shows included: Longview Gallery, Washington, DC; plan b Gallery, Washington, DC; Blueberry Gallery, Alexandria, VA; Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC; and the Art Barn Gallery, Gaithersburg, MD.

Juror: Harry Cooper, Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art National Gallery of Art, Washington

Mr. Cooper, curator of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, is the organizing curator of The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection: Selected Works.

Since joining the Gallery in February 2008, he has organized The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection: Selected Works and initiated a series of focus exhibitions in the Tower Gallery of the East Building on such artists as Philip Guston, Mark Rothko, and Nam June Paik.

Cooper received a PhD in 1997 from Harvard University, an MA in 1992 from Johns Hopkins University, and an AB in American history and literature in 1981 from Harvard University. Cooper also holds a certificate in drawing and painting from the Corcoran Museum School of Art, Washington, DC.