Bowersock Gallery | 8/12-8/23 | Provincetown, MA

Magical Realism

Stanka Kordic and Scott Conary on view in a late summer show at Bowersock Gallery in Provincetown, MA.

By Meg Daly

An exhibition at Bowersock Gallery pairs two painters who push the boundaries of realism. Blurred Lines and Hazy Intent features the works of Stanka Kordic and Scott Conary. Their dreamlike florals and figures are by turns melancholy and life-affirming. Seen together, the works showcase the way paint can reveal depth in everyday subjects.Stanka Kordic, Visionaries, oil on canvas, 30 x 48"

“The art of both painters is hauntingly beautiful, whether they’re capturing a simple fern or the portrait of a child,” says gallery owner Steve Bowersock. “Nothing either does is ever just standard fare.”

Kordic is a first generation Croatian American and graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art. Her figurative work starts with models but soon shifts into an exploration of her medium.Scott Conary, Rose and Dusk, oil on panel, 10 x 11"

“Although I will often begin with a physical likeness to the model, that will often change as my dialogue with paint does. In other words, I no longer want the model’s physical likeness and mood to be the driver,” Kordic says.

Kordic’s painting Visionaries shows two young girls in a garden. The flashes of light combined with the dusky atmosphere give the impression that the children see something others don’t.

“Children are intuitively aware of their connection to the natural world, and are very much at home there,” she says.

Conary also captures the living, breathing world. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he lives in Portland, Oregon. His work is inspired by his experience as a father of a young child with medical complications. Stanka Kordic, Becoming, oil on panel, 40 x 30"

Scott Conary, Looking Glass, oil on panel, 12 x 12"

“I am transfixed by questions about what is valuable, what is beautiful, and why,” he says.

For example, Conary’s florals are alive with motion, as if caught in a spring rainstorm. Their survival is valiant and perhaps fleeting.

“Just as the limited scope of our lives propels us and gives our time meaning, the beauty of a flower is rooted in its transience,” Conary says. “These are not the perfectly presented specimens from the florist. Instead they bear the scars, as we do, of existence.”Stanka Kordic, Birds on Blue, oil on panel, 36 x 24"Bowersock says both artists use their personal visions to disrupt realism. “They warp time, play with our sense of normalcy, our vulnerabilities and even our notions on mortality.” —