The House of Art in Hopkinton will hold a second opening of a new exhibit of work from the vast collection by New Hampshire native Emily Fischer Field.
“The Road: Paintings by Emily Fischer Field 2009-2019” originally opened on Dec. 27; however, a dozen pieces were held up in U.S. Customs after being shipped from London, where Field is now based.
The delayed works were hung this week and a second reception will be held Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. There also will be a gallery talk with Field, with question and answer time, on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.
“This show is so much more that I imagined it would be. It reminds me of how when I lived in New York I used to go to galleries to see art,” said gallery founder Ruth Chevion in an email. “Museums are great, but in a gallery the art can be closer to what artists are doing and thinking today.”
Field’s art blends painting, sculpture and poetry – five visual pieces in the exhibit will be paired with poems – to attempt to translate the process of transformation and creation.
“It shows experiments with materials, and also with content,” Chevion said. “Emily Fischer Field is a master painter. Look at her edges, her mixed and juxtaposed colors, her clearly defined drawing. Look at the creamy matte surfaces of her oils, and the control she has over watercolors and inks. Look at the soft and hard turning of objects, the highlights and shadows. It’s all there. ”
In addition to the large quantity of works Field has supplied to the gallery, several are large in scale, such as sumi ink drawings titled “Terrior” and “The Kingdom.”
“There is an oil painting called ‘Celesta’ that is centrally featured on the main wall of the gallery, Chevion said. “It shows the tender pink underside of a flower with a piano keyboard on the edge of the petals, and some white balloons or eggs floating above it into a turquoise sky. Parts of a town are on the lower part of the painting, as though the flower towers over it. There is a teapot with all kinds of things happening inside.”
Field earned a degree in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts in 2010 and has presented solo shows in Massachusetts, New York and Hungary.
Field’s works are for sale, though some have already been spoken for. The House of Art is located in the Bates Building, 846 Main St., Contoocook.