As a painter, I often look straight down at the grass and say that I am going to paint every blade of grass.  How it is done is impossible to understand, but it starts at the micro level.              ~ Stanley Lewis, 2022 

Betty Cuningham Gallery is pleased to open an exhibition of new work by Stanley Lewis. This will be the artist’s fourth show with the Gallery, located at 15 Rivington Street. The artist will be present for an opening reception on Thursday, May 12 from 6-8 PM.

The exhibition is comprised of twelve paintings and four works on paper, all completed recently. Typically, Lewis works and reworks a painting or a drawing for months, if not years, struggling to grasp the details or “the little things.” He works on-site, therefore his subjects are wherever he finds himself: Westport, CT where one of his children live, Lovell Lake, NH where they have a cottage, and most particularly, during the past three years, at home in Massachusetts, painting Rhododendrons, clapboards on the house or whatever is in the backyard. 

Backyard with a Wagon, Table and Chair, 2022 is a major undertaking which Stanley refers to as his “whole life.” He worked on it for thirteen years, leaving it sheltered in his outdoor ‘studio’ throughout the winter months. His method is complex and requires hours of editing: the canvas is cut and rejoined, piled with layers of paper and canvas, unified by an active painted surface and single image. Lewis’ ambitious cut-and-assemble process is also evident in his works on paper. In View of Our House with Rhododendrons, the foreground is a tangled net of individual branches, almost in relief, through which peeks a corner of the house.