On a rocky beach in Guilford, Connecticut, contemporary artist Rex Prescott Walden looks out over Long Island Sound. His calm demeanor and neatly put-together appearance are in stark contrast to modern conceptions of what an artist should look like. Here, at his sprawling family compound, Walden looks more the aging J. Crew model than breakthrough artist.
However, moving into his brightly lit studio, old navigational charts and cans of acrylic paint are spread out on antique chart tables. Typing machine buttons dot the tops of worn wooden counters. This is the studio of an artist in preparation. What Walden has been preparing for is a solo exhibition at the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery on Thursday, November 4th.
The Gallery has exclusively represented Walden, who remains its best-selling artist, since the beginning of 2010, and has featured him in three of its seven shows. Walden's work is currently in the permanent collection of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT, and at the brand-new Smilow Cancer Center at Yale New Haven Hospital. Walden's first solo show at the Gallery, “Non-Applicable,” sold out completely. Collector Kabir Valencia describes his draw to Walden's nautical-themed pieces as “second nature.” “His talent is universal and unstoppable. The appeal of his pieces is reminiscent of old Jules Verne stories; nautical and scientific with a hint of fantasy.”
By using paint, collage, and found objects, his works are saturated with a sense of movement and history. Old map prints call out navigational paths as adding machine buttons play with conventional standards of dimension, always making the viewer acutely aware of the effervescent nature of Time.
Mixed Journeys: Nautical Paths will be on view at the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery at 96 Bedford Street, Stamford, Connecticut through December 14, 2010. The opening for the show will be held at the Gallery on Thursday, November 4th from 5pm to 9pm. An RSVP is required for a first-option private viewing running between 5pm and 6pm; please RSVP to Rebecca Hansen at rhansen@flalvarezgallery.com or 888-861-6791. The show will be open to the public from 6pm to 9pm, with complementary refreshments and live music.
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