FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information Contact
Jules Bekker 404.869.0511
jules@tewgalleries.com
A GROUP SHOW
Featuring paintings by Cameron Wilson Ritcher, Melissa Sims, Ecaterina Vorona
Opens February 10, 2023; 6.00 – 8.00 p.m. On view through March 11th
TEW Galleries presents three bold abstract and figurative artists, each expressing themselves through specific mediums and his/her own vision.
Virginia based, Cameron Wilson Ritcher switches the viewer’s thinking, helping us understand that his assemblages do not come from an abundance of materials, but from their scarcity. Using reclaimed wood, Cameron plays with irregular shapes, a corner not quite square, or the tiniest of matchstick strips to create paintings that are undeniably playful.
Nostalgia is one of Ritcher’s favorite emotions and it shows up in his art, growing each year as he becomes acutely aware of the passage of time. The mark-making, scratching, sanding, and scraping is driven by, and reflective of change brought about by time. Ritcher rediscovered a stack of old board games in a cabinet at his grandfather’s house in rural North Carolina. These games─the boxes, boards, cards, and various pieces─served as the source material for many of the icons and color decisions used in this body of work.
Melissa Sims, an Atlanta-based artist, makes shiny, neon-colored paintings, first by appropriating images from pop culture, Hollywood, comic books and the American roadside, then by reimagining them as fun new visions. The result is artworks that make us happy and serve as antidotes for the stresses of life.
Speaking of her recent paintings, Melissa says: This body of work is a vehicle of reflection; In one painting there is an actual reflection, but others are reflections of souvenirs of places I have visited or things I have done. In this regard, the images help me understand who I am and where I may be going.
From the Republic of Moldovia, Ecaterina Vorona is TEW Galleries’ newest emerging artist. This will also be Vorona’s first exhibition in the United States. These artworks feature complicated surrealistic figures blending with one another on the canvas. Forcing viewers into a sense of deep thought as well as sparking the viewers’ imagination. The repeating patterns, line work, and color palette and style in the foreground and background exhibit mastery and tranquility.
Speaking of her art, Vorona writes: My focus is contemporary expressionistic figurative painting, and I immerse myself in the inner world of my characters. Using vivid colors, dynamic compositions, texture and flat surfaces, I convey this state of being to the viewer.The interactions between the characters are choreographic and passionate- something between dancing, falling and flying. This is affected by a single powerful force, be it music, wind, and gravity. To emphasize the influence the environment has on the figures, the color of the landscape influences their colors as well.
