THE WRONG SEA
Sachiko Akiyama, Jared Buckheister, Cathleen Clarke, Lynne Mapp Drexler, Marley Freeman, Jerrell Gibbs, Bambou Gili, Dylan Hausthor, Danielle Mckinney, Jesse Mockrin, Catalina Ouyang, Eric Palgon, Lily Stockman, Owen Westberg and Coco Young
Co-Organized with Dunes, Portland, ME
Night Gallery in collaboration with Dunes is pleased to present “The Wrong Sea,” an exhibition featuring work by Sachiko Akiyama, Jared Buckheister, Cathleen Clarke, Lynne Mapp Drexler, Marley Freeman, Jerrell Gibbs, Bambou Gili, Dylan Hausthor, Danielle Mckinney, Jesse Mockrin, Catalina Ouyang, Eric Palgon, Lily Stockman, Owen Westberg and Coco Young. “The Wrong Sea” will be on view from August 3 - October 5, 2024 at Dunes, Portland, ME. There will be an opening reception from 3-7pm August 3rd.
This collaboration was motivated by the two galleries’ mutual desire to celebrate Maine’s place within art history. Beginning in the late 1800s, Maine became known for its artist communities, including Ogunquit, Haystacks and Skowhegan among others. Many of their founding artists studied in Europe; they brought back to the States a romanticized vision of the pastoral and an emphatic rejection of modern life. These artists were deeply influenced by the Barbizon and post-impressionist painters who sought unmanicured nature as a subject. And so the lush forests and jagged coasts to the north of New York and Boston became in many ways the American Fontainebleau, attracting Edward Hopper, Frederic Edwin Church, Robert Henri, Margaret Jordan Patterson and countless subsequent followers to the landscape.
Throughout “The Wrong Sea” contemporary artists from both gallery programs echo the sentiments of this history. Sachiko Akiyama, Bambou Gili, Jerrell Gibbs and Danielle Mckinney depict personal reflection in communion with the natural world. Jesse Mockrin and Coco Young both look to and recontextualize works of the western canon. The paintings of Lily Stockman and Owen Westberg are shaped by the land that surrounds them. Each artist forgoes the search for something “new,” looking instead to the past for a better understanding of their worlds.
Beyond an exploration of regional history, many artists included have a connection to Maine and have been influenced by its landscape. Lynne Mapp Drexler lived and worked on Monhegan until her death in 1999, Lily Stockman works from Maine part of the year, Coco Young traveled from New York to Maine for childhood summers, and Sachiko Akiyama, a local artist, and Jerrell Gibbs both studied at Skowhegan. Crucially for the generation of this show, Dunes founding director Boru O’Brien O’Connell and William Hathaway, Sales Director and Partner of Night Gallery grew up together in Bar Harbor, ME. O’Brien O’Connell also introduced Brian Faucette, Senior Director of Night Gallery, to the region when the pair attended art school together in the early 2000s. There is an attraction to the dense forests and rocky shores for artists that exceeds provinciality, a deep impression that has, and continues to shape, American art.