The Hicks Art Center Gallery presents “Bucks County Artists: A Cross Section,” featuring works by sculptor George R. Anthonisen and painters Richard Lennox, Mavis Smith and Emily Thompson, through March 11 at Bucks County Community College’s Newtown Campus.
Curated by Lisa Tremper Hanover, the former executive director of the James A. Michener Museum in Doylestown, the exhibition presents work with an emphasis on representational content that also incorporates a measure of references to classical media.
“Together, the combined work contains a threat of elements which are reflective, evocative and familiar,” Hanover writes in her exhibition notes.
For example, Anthonisen’s sculptures reflect his major influences of Auguste Rodin and Augustus Saint-Gardens. Meanwhile, in his paintings, Lennox revels in the architectural nomenclature that defines Bucks County towns and farms.
Smith works with incredible precision in egg tempera and, more recently, with actual eggshells, to formulate compositions that gleam, creating contemplative, porcelain skilled “portraits” that inhabit enigmatic worlds. Thompson is attracted to the remnants of a nostalgic past to create intimate gestures that are drawn from large scale subject matter in her paintings.
The artists will discuss their works and their creative processes at an artists’ panel on Wednesday, Feb. 5, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., in room 257 of Grupp Hall on the Newtown Campus. That will be followed by a gallery reception from 5 to 7 p.m. that afternoon. All events are free and open to the public.
The Hicks Art Center Gallery is located on the Bucks campus at 275 Swamp Road, Newtown. Parking and admission are free. For more information, including a list of gallery hours, visit bucks.edu/gallery or call 215-968-8425.
Forthcoming shows include the 25th annual Bucks County High School Art Exhibition from March 28-April 11, with a gallery reception and congressional art competition awards ceremony on March 29; and the 55th annual Bucks County Community College Student Exhibition from May 1-11, with a gallery reception on May 3.
Bucks County Community College receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
