Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery opens "Bramble and Bramble" exhibition June 3

Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery opens "Bramble and Bramble" exhibition June 3


Image: Bramble art Two perspectives on the exquisite paradox of the fragility and endurance of art go on view at Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery Thursday, June 3 with the opening of "Bramble and Bramble: Remnants, Glyphs and Palimpsests."  There will be an opening reception on that day from 6 to 8 p.m. On Saturday, June 5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the artists will present their work in an informal talk to students from Fairfield College Preparatory School and to the public. The artists will speak respectively on the nature and sources of their works and "The Abstract in Art" at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Admission to the gallery and to the gallery talk is free. This is a presentation of the Arts & Minds season at Fairfield University.

Frank and Pamela Bramble, who happen to be a married couple that lives in Conn., share a passionate appreciation for the intrinsic value and unlimited potential time-altered surfaces provide in the exploration of serenity, the definition of the relationship between language and image and how one experiences art and its lasting impression. The work of each artist is unique and idiosyncratic in style and execution.

Pamela's work has been influenced by two things in particular: The 13th and 14th century Italian frescos made fragile by time, that "resonate from beneath their layers of patina" and have become, for her, "meditations;" and "second, the drawings of very young children as they search along the boundary line between pictograph and the written word."

She explains, "My work is about the visual representation of the search and the find - and of how process establishes content. My artistic process is one where each painting is worked and reworked until form and content merge."

Using layered brushwork, Pamela is concerned with the effects of paint removal, incising, drawing back wet into wet and dried paint and collaging to develop the image. Her paintings begin cluttered and filled with information. Through her artistic process, she says, "they eventually become reduced and refined and the worked surfaces become spaces - spaces that suggest arrested moments in time."

Frank notes that his work reflects "the fugitive nature of the world around me." In his opinion, the world and its structures are "in the grip of entropy." With the passage of time, things that at one time seemed certain, prove to be elusive and become "the stuff of memory and dreams." That very elusiveness feeds his artistic view and through it, the artist sees his "work of art ... as a survivor."

Image: Bram The artist sees his paintings as "vignettes that suggest both an experience of art and its lasting impression." Working toward a combination of immediacy and reverie, the artist strives to "achieve that balance through painterly application."

In a career that spans 30 years, Frank's work can be seen in corporate, university and private collections across the country.

Pamela's work is represented in public and private collections. She has served as an invited juror and lecturer for numerous exhibits and talks on art and the artistic process and her awards include the President's Gold Medallion for her paintings in the exhibit Emerging Artists at The Gregg Galleries in New York City. She has taught drawing, painting and foundation studio and art appreciation in the department of art and art history at UConn since 1989.

The artists live in Torrington with their two children and they maintain studios in Conn. and Vermont.

Admission to the gallery is free. The hours are: Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: Noon to 4 p.m. Closed Monday. The gallery is always open when performances occur at the Quick Center for the Arts .

Directions: Fairfield University is located off I-95, exit 22 at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.

Posted On: 05-14-2010 10:05 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 294