for 11/23

MARK DAVIS, ROGER BOWMAN TO OPEN AT PUCKER GALLERY IN BOSTON DEC. 1

AVV/GS SET 11/13 #719543

BOSTON, MASS. — Pucker Gallery will present the exhibitions “Revisiting Nature: Mobiles by Mark Davis” and “The Lay of the Land: The Imaginative Terrain of Roger Bowman,” on view December 1–30. An opening reception with the artist will be December 1 from 3 to 6 pm.

One of local artist Mark Davis’s greatest feats is his skillful manipulation of a difficult medium — metal is intrinsically heavy, inactive and a challenge to control. Davis’s freestanding and wall-mounted mobiles demonstrated a deep relationship with and a refined understanding of the material.

His freestanding mobiles are composed of delicate forms that smoothly swirl around, under and through each other, constantly changing. The movement of these works is organic, as though part of a natural order.

Although the components of Davis’s wall-mounted mobiles are fixed in place, they are not at all stationary and work together to capture a dynamism, depth and balance that is difficult to attain in any medium. These mobiles are pieced together like three-dimensional abstract paintings — each color, form, and space operating to create a harmonious composition. This is the artist’s sixth exhibition at Pucker Gallery.

He has also created large indoor and outdoor installations for both public and private commissions. Approximately 35 mobiles will be on display and a 24-page color catalog accompanies the exhibition.

“I am inspired by nature but rarely work from life…I want things to be believable, but only in the universe within the rectangle,” says Roger Bowman, whose fantastical watercolors demonstrate the artist’s skill and keen observation of nature. The birds, plants, insects and fruit that frequent his newest works are a reflection of both a scientific examination of the species and a penchant for invention.

These works — watercolors and gouache on paper, muslin and varnished wood — combine a realistic, illustrative quality with an unlikely amalgamation of creatures and objects. The believable scales of and convincing interactions between the individual subjects suggest that they do indeed exist together in reality, just as they do in Bowman’s colorful landscapes.

Bowman incorporates manufactured objects that have cracked or been weathered, seemingly left behind to be claimed, transformed and utilized by nature. The artist draws inspiration for his newest works from the terrain along two familiar state highways, Highway 67 and Highway 14. Bowman is an art professor at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. His second exhibition at Pucker Gallery will feature approximately 40 works. A 24-page catalog accompanies the exhibition.

Pucker Gallery is at 171 Newbury Street. For information, www.puckergallery.com or 617-267-9473.