A new solo exhibition at Shain Gallery highlights the art of Curt Butler, whose works radiate a sense of cultivated style and originality. The Gastonia, North Carolina-based artist paints a variety of subject matter, though most pieces tend toward marine and water themes, like marshlands, ponds, seascapes and aquatic-dwelling wildlife. The texture in Butler’s paintings is mesmerizing, a blend of both building up the surface or carving into the paint.
Beyond the Fog, oil, 24 x 48"
“Texture, for me, is usually my emotional response to my subjects,” says Butler. He discusses the play of horizontals and verticals in works like Stem to Stern, which captures a simple front-facing view of a boat on still waters. “[I wanted to] emphasize the piercing bow of a boat and its ability to slice through water. [Paintings of] single skiff boats with no occupancy are generally about myself or the viewer as a single vessel,” he says. “As a metaphor relating back to the title, this is a person who is thorough, intensive and seeks the truth from beginning to end.”
Freckled Shore, oil, 48 x 48"
Butler’s style has evolved over the years while working as an artist and as an art teacher. He says, “I taught art in many capacities over the course of 20-plus years including owning and operating my own art business where I taught workshops in one room and painted professionally in another room.
I think the logistics and environment allowed me to always have learning as front and center in my work. For me, the emergence of a style means that you are aware of your artistic journey and you begin to respond to it.”
Stem to Stern, oil, 48 x 48"
The upcoming Shain Gallery show includes Stem to Stern, as well as gentle waterscapes like Beyond the Fog and Eve’s Eyelashes. Another work is Freckled Shore, a square composition depicting a small flock of waterbirds. “A new body of work is really a stopping point in the journey…You are, in essence, giving the public a road map of where you have been, where you are and what is to come in your journey. If you choose to follow along with me, you will see that some of my subjects are landscapes, boats and shorebirds, but they have become more or less personal iconography to talk about a deeper metaphor,” says Butler. “My paint application is becoming more and more a conduit for feelings taking artistic form.” —
Shain Gallery
2823 Selwyn Avenue, Suite K • Charlotte, NC 28209
(704) 334-7744 • www.shaingallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
