MONTANA SONGS

MONTANa SONGS

A Solo Exhibition Featuring:

Charlie Hunter

OPENING RECEPTION:

SEPTEMBER 13th  |  6:00PM - 8:00PM

Exhibition Statement:

The fallen barn, the broken plow
The hoofprint-hardened clay;
Where is the farmer, now
Who built his dream this way?
Who felled the tree and cut the bough
And made the land obey
Who taught his sons as he knew how
But could not make them stay.

- David Ackles, MONTANA SONG

Montana is not my home. I am from Vermont where, indeed, a great 19th Century exodus westward did occur, but to Ohio, Indiana, and -for the truly adventurous- Wisconsin. But the Big Sky landscape thrills, and the struggle written upon it nevertheless rings true. My work uses the hollowing-out of small town and rural America as the stepping-off point for explorations of form and texture, and goodness knows there is plenty of that in Montana as well as Vermont.

I use water-miscible oils, which allow for certain watercolor techniques, as well as those of traditional oil painting. Another tool I draw upon is the brass-handled window-washer's squeegee, allowing for extremely sharp edges; the juxtaposition of sharp edge with lost or softened ones, combined with careful drawing technique and attention to value differentials, allows for multiple narrative illusions, hopefully in service to the overall work. 

- Charlie Hunter

Click here for available work by Charlie Hunter