FEATURED ARTS
McGowan Says Goodbye with Bruce McColl Exhibition
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Bruce McColl’s “The Color of Seasons” is the last art show for McGowan Fine Art as we know it today.
Tucked away on Hills Avenue in the heart of downtown Concord, the 16-piece exhibition — bright and representative of iconic New Hampshire scenery — is on view June 6 through July 7, with an opening reception Friday, June 9, from 5 to 7 p.m., and an artist talk on Saturday, June 17, from 11 a.m. to noon.
Gallery owner Sarah Chaffee announced in late April that the gallery, after 37 years, would close its doors this July, but during a recent visit there were still many pieces to frame and loose ends to tie before signing off. Orders and requests have been flying in.
“I think there’s always been this feeling that, I’m a big gallery. I’ve been here forever. I’ll be here forever. So when it was announced, I think a lot of people were shocked,” Chaffee said. “I’m really shocked by how many people are coming out and buying last-minute art purchases. And now I’m trying to figure out, can we finish all this work by our deadline of July 7?” The gallery began in Mary McGowan’s barn in 1980, starting with corporate art consulting and growing to include a frame shop and art gallery. The Hills Ave. space was designed by her husband, architect Duncan McGowan. Chaffee took over when Mary McGowan retired in 2011.
In its closing, Chaffee is most concerned for her “top-notch” staff. Some, like her corporate art consultant Amanda Lacasse, will continue in the field, offering corporate art consulting services privately, but the future is still a little murky for everyone, including her 75 regional artists. For many of them, the gallery is their primary or only representation.
“It was a fast and not-fast decision on my part. It’s been a struggle ever since the recession started. There are changing buying habits,” she said.
More and more collectors are buying art online. But when budgets were tight, Chaffee felt it was important to not cater to just “what people want,” or what she knew would sell. “I also bring in work that I think people should look at, and I think people should like. And those types of galleries are few and far between. They tend to operate in big cities where there’s a much bigger population to pull in,” Chaffee said.
At the time of her interview, McColl’s pieces were at the gallery in the midst of being framed. All are energetic with color and mark-making, bringing to life his interpretation of Granite State sites in Franconia, Derry, Hopkinton and Appledore Isle, plus Sanibel Island in Florida.
For many of the paintings, McColl looked to art history; for example, “Celia Thaxter’s Garden and Babb’s Cove” is like an homage to Childe Hassam’s work. “White Birch, Autumn Winds Beneath Lafayette” was inspired by White Mountain painters featured in the Currier Museum of Art’s fall 2016 exhibition “Mount Washington: The Crown of New England.”
“I think it’s interesting, this day and age, how people are looking at history in a different way and challenging [previous interpretations],” said McColl, who is also director of art education at the Currier Art Center, naming Hamilton as an example.
“There’s such a rich tradition of painters going up to the White Mountains. I felt like I was in the presence of many generations of artists.”
When outdoor temperatures dropped, McColl turned to floral still lifes, but whenever possible he painted plein air, a rare choice among New England artists because of weather. Cool temperatures cause fingers to tense and media to thicken up, whereas heat causes paints to dry fast. Artists must work quickly.
“It’s funny; the work, it is very fast, and you can see there’s a lot of movement in these, but if you look at his strokes, you see they’re well thought out,” Chaffee said. “I think there’s a lot of movement and mark-making.”
For McColl, the choice was as much about the art as it was about time outside.
“All of us are so attached, in our working lives, to our digital and technological worlds. When I’m outdoors, I’m wonderfully disconnected with that part of my life and completely absorbed in experiencing nature with smell and sound and sight. And that, for me, is really transportive,” he said. “When I walk away after a day or two in these landscapes, wrestling with these paintings, I feel energized and revived.”
McColl, like the rest of the art community, is sad to see McGowan’s end, calling it the region’s most important and long-standing gallery. But Chaffee said she hopes to continue the business in some way, looking at options to perhaps open a smaller space with a frame shop, because McGowan has been more than just a business.
“It’s not just selling the artwork, but it’s really about shepherding an artist’s career,” Chaffee said.
Bruce McColl: The Color of Seasons
Where: McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills Ave., Concord
When: June 6 through July 7; opening reception Friday, June 9, from 5 to 7 p.m., artist talk Saturday, June 17, from 11 a.m. to noon
Contact: mcgowanfineart.com, 225- 2515, art@mcgowanfineart.com