In February 1996, William Baczek opened his eponymous fine arts gallery with an emphasis on representational art, particularly those from the Northampton, Massachusetts, region. Most of the members of the Valley Realist group exhibited there, and its stable of artists has grown over the years. Since 2002 the gallery has been in its current location, which Baczek purchased in 2015 as a way to show his commitment to exhibiting internationally recognized artists in a local setting. This year, the gallery will host its 25th Anniversary Exhibition with work by its roster of artists available to purchase.
Jeff Gola, Off Bartley Lane, egg tempera on panel, 11 x 14"
“An anniversary is always a time to look back, but also to look ahead. So much has changed since we first opened the gallery in 1996. Because the Pioneer Valley, in Massachusetts, has such a rich artistic tradition, when we first opened, we exhibited primarily local artists and sold to primarily local clients. We still cherish our local clientele, but of course like all businesses the internet has changed everything,” says Baczek. He adds, “Now we exhibit artists from across the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. Those artists bring with them clients from all over the world, so of course we now ship worldwide. It is a continual learning experience to work with such diverse artists, and we are grateful for all the relationships we have.”
Larry Preston, Persimmon, Quince, Tangerine, oil on panel, 24 x 24"
Included in the exhibition will be works of the five “founding artists” who have been with the gallery since its first year: Scott Prior, Robert Sweeney, Larry Preston, Mallory Lake and Nanette Vonnegut. The gallery represents artists from around the United States as well as those in Italy, Lativa and Canada. There’s work from mainstays such as Jana Brike, Sara Catapano, Jaq Chartier, Matthew Cornell, Robin Freedenfeld, Andrew Haines, Charlie Hunter, Anne Lilly, Travis Louie, Brad Woodfin, Yin Yong Chun and more. This also marks the first time that the gallery is showing the works of artist-actor-playwright Ryan Landry.
Preston is represented in the exhibition with his work Persimmon, Quince, Tangerine, which was inspired by accident. “I had purchased the fruit in anticipation of painting it in the produce bags,” the artist recalls. “Upon taking the fruit out of the bags, I liked the colors and decided to paint the fruit with the produce bags in the background.”
North of the Summit House, Spring, by Sweeney, was his latest in an ongoing journey to explore the “sense of place.” The work, which was a result of several small on-site studies, as well as abstractions from memory and imagination, is of a location he has visited and painted numerous times over the past 50 years: the Summit House on Mount Holyoke, where one can see the Connecticut River Valley.
El Gato Chimney, Day Dream, watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 27 5/8 x 19 5/8"
“Steeped in the palette of spring, I focused on contrast between the foreground, from which an artist draws the landscape, and the play of atmospheric layers, bright clouds and shadows over the plane of the river valley with its rich vegetation and patterned evidence of cultivation and habitation,” says Sweeney. “Bisecting all of this are the undulating curves of the Connecticut River as it reflects the light from the sky. What continues to define this unique place, and what I believe has attracted other artists to this very site, is that here one experiences, such as a stunningly expansive viewpoint, that more of our world unfolds before us than seems physically possible.”
Ric Pas’ acrylic on painting Wood on Wood, is from a series where he explores “nature’s camouflage, patterns and textures,” he says. “This painting shows a wood frog blending into the wood of a fallen tree.”
Rick Pas, Wood on Wood, acrylic on panel, 6 x 8"
Off Bartley Lane, by Jeff Gola, is of a typical Vermont backroad scene in February. “Winter is my favorite season for imagery in that it not only has the palette and textures that are most suitable for my medium of egg tempera, but also because it often emphasizes contrasts on many levels,” explains Gola. “I always enjoy finding subjects that were not obvious choices, but which I see out of the corner of my eye. In this, I saw several intriguing contrasts to explore. One was the traditional rural New England existing with the present day, with the pops of subtle but noticeably modern color from a few buildings contrasting with the weathered wood of the older barn and the background landscape, while those elements of color also break the scene out of the monochrome setting.”
El Gato Chimney’s artwork represents “the power of the imagination over reality, the importance of dreaming—who’s able to dream possesses a precious power.” In the show is his work Day Dream.
The exhibition will run through March 13, and the gallery is following all social distancing guidelines. —
William Baczek Fine Arts
36 Main Street • Northampton, MA 01060
(413) 587-9880 • www.wbfinearts.com
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