Whitney Art Works: Charlie Hewitt at 492 Congress Street

Charlie Hewitt at 492 Congress Street

Charlie Hewitt, installation view

Charlie Hewitt, <i>Untitled</i>, ink on paper, 2006

Charlie Hewitt, Untitled, ink on paper, 2006

Whitney Art Works at 492 Congress Street is proud to present the iconoclastic work of Charlie Hewitt from March 2 - March 31, featuring drawings, sculptures and a new series of prints.

Fresh from a retrospective of paintings and sculpture at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, and a print retrospective at the Olin Arts Center at Bates College in Lewiston, Charlie Hewitt will exhibit drawings and prints at the new Whitney Art Works space in Monument Square.

Hewitt's lush works speak in a narrative language that pulls its inspiration from the artist's life and experiences, from his childhood as the son of Franco-American laborers in Lewiston/Auburn to his early adulthood in the turbulent upheaval of 1960's New York city, to his current life as an established artist and family man holding residence in his home state. Hewitt's rotating set of icon's -- hearts, ropes, chains, hammers, dice -- appear throughout his work, bouncing, bumping and crowding each other for the spotlight in implied narratives of socio-economic and personal drama.

Charlie Hewitt describes his art as "a search for something to conquer". This wanderlust has led him to create work in a variety of media, from small drawings to massive woodcuts to ceramics, and recently led him begin working in welded steel in 2005. In this exhibition Hewitt will debut work in yet another new medium: the tools, hardware, body parts, and animals that populate his paintings and drawings will explode directly onto the walls in a dynamic, large-scale installation of printed vinyl cuts. Working on the wall allows Hewitt to disassemble the picture plane, employing the same graphic push/pull dynamics of his paintings on a gallery-sized canvas. These new works will be available to collectors individually and in edition sets.

Opens on March 2 and will continue through March 31. Artist Reception on First Friday, March 2 5-9 PM...
Gallery hours:
Thursday - Saturday 12-6 PM or by appointment

Whitney Art Works
492 Congress Street
Portland, MR 04101
(207)774-7011 or (207)780-0700 for information

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