Anne Connell

EXHIBITION NOTES

Anne Connell
Nov 12 – Dec 31, 2005

Robischon Gallery presents Oregon artist Anne Connell's fifth solo exhibition featuring her latest series of painting and collage work. Incorporating textures and patterns of painted elements, printed paper, pressed wrappers and text book illustrations, Connell's meticulous works invite investigation. Involving handmade carta marmorizzata fiorentina (Florentine marbled paper) adhered to a panel, these collages invoke the past while maintaining a contemporary sensibility.

Connell purposefully composed each work as a Fibonacci rectangle measuring 8.9 x 14.4 inches. This unit of measurement, known as Divine Proportion or the Golden Mean, is an ancient mathematical numbering system rediscovered in the 13th century. In addition to the Golden Mean pieces, two of Connell's rarefied paintings are also on view. Framed in Italian hand-finished frames, Connell's artworks offer a synthesis of intriguing mystery and beauty that encourage a lingering contemplation of the delicate surfaces.

She is the recipient of numerous honors including a Fulbright Senior Scholarship, residencies at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, a residency at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming, grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Council in Portland, Oregon and a fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission. She attended the University of Colorado and earned her M.F.A. from the University of Michigan School of Art. The artist recently completed three years of service on the Fulbright Selection Panel and two extended sojourns in Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance imagery that she admires.