An upcoming show marks a major milestone for artist Anna Rose Bain—her first solo exhibition in nearly 20 years of working as a professional artist. That is not to say that her talent has gone unrecognized. Just this year, she took home a top award in Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition for her piece King of the Wild Things, one of many accolades she has received for her artwork.
Lioness, oil on linen, 36 x 24 in.Raising children, including a son with severe autism, simply did not allow her the time to create a large enough body of work for her own show. Now that her children are a bit older, and with a recently refurbished studio, Bain is pulling out all of the stops for Little Kingdoms, which will feature roughly 40 paintings created within the past two years, and that showcase the breadth of what Bain is capable of artistically.
On view October 10 through October 24 at Saks Galleries in Denver, the show will include large and small-scale landscapes, florals and still life, in addition to the portraiture and figurative works she is best known for. Despite the diversity of subject matter, a theme runs through Little Kingdoms—the magical realm that arises when reality and the imagination intermingle.
“It’s evocative of places and realms where we feel most at home, or most ourselves,” says Bain. “The slogan I’m using is ‘where nature meets imagination.’”
Red Balloon, oil on linen, 40 x 48 in.
Max of Where the Wild Things Are (modeled after Bain’s son) reappears in a recent painting called His Highness, this time he is looking up at a towering giraffe that emphasizes the perspective of a small boy. This idea of looking at the world through a child’s eyes infuses many of Bain’s paintings, including World of Wonder, inspired by the boundless imagination of her daughter and the power of reading; and Red Balloon, which is representative of the impenetrable mystery of her son’s internal world.
Crescendo, oil on linen, oil on linen, 24 x 26 in.
World of Wonder, oil on linen, 34 x 30 in.
“That is one that I had always wanted to paint,” shares Bain, who had accumulated many reference photos over the years that she is finally transforming into paintings. “After we found out about our son’s diagnosis, I started seeing the world a little differently. I realized he’s not always like other kids. Here, he’s got this red balloon, a sign of joy, but he’s detached from it, as if he isn’t aware he’s holding it. The hydrangeas symbolize his thoughts…I’ll never know what’s going on in his head, but I can guess.”
Bain also celebrates the power of the feminine in pieces like Crescendo, featuring a cellist playing in a field of wildflowers with a rumbling thunderhead dominating the sky behind her. She did the photoshoot with the model in Lioness almost 10 years ago, but always felt like the composition needed something more. On safari in South Africa, she found it. “To me she just exudes power,” Bain says. “She’s confrontational and also soft and feminine. All these things that are ‘woman’—the lioness upholds that in a way.”
Little Kingdoms opens with a reception on October 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. and remains on view through October 24. —
Saks Galleries 3019 E. 2nd Avenue • Denver, CO 80206 (303) 333-4144 • www.saksgalleries.com
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