The Forest and the Shore: New Paintings by Robert Tharsing

The Ann Tower Gallery is pleased to present "The Forest and the Shore: New Paintings by Robert Tharsing," The exhibition will feature 15 small paintings painted en plein air, and 7 large canvasses painted in his Lexington studio.

Nearly everyday, from July through November 2011, Tharsing painted the views from his seaside studio on Rous Island in Nova Scotia, creating very realistic, lively, and painterly chronicles of the place throughout the seasons and in all kinds of weather. The elements of shore, sea, islands, and sky are repeated, but vary in each painting. Tharsing beautifully and accurately captures the changes: bright, fair weather skies give way to storms, fog, and mist; calm seas become rough; shore plants bloom and die; the color of the water changes with the light; and summer moves into fall.

Since returning to Lexington in November, Tharsing has brought the island into his studio in Lexington, creating large-scale paintings inspired by Nova Scotia. His paintings not only evoke the beauty and mystery of the place, they transcend the locations and become archetypes. A large scale painting of a tree placed in the center of the composition, for instance, allows the tree to become an individual with nuance and character, but also to become a symbol of a tree. Filtered sunlight falls upon ferns and moss, rocks and creeks, and trees, dead and alive. We see the exuberance of life growing out of decay and death.

Tharsing is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Art at the University of Kentucky. He received a Master's degree from the University of California' Berkeley, and has lived in Lexington since 1971. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, he has had numerous solo exhibitions, and his work in is many public and private collections. He has also been the recipient of the prestigious Al Smith Fellowship, awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council.

The Main Floor Gallery will feature a group exhibition including paintings, sculpture, photographs, drawings, ceramics and folk art by artists Patrick Adams, Minnie Adkins, Gary Bower, Cole Carothers, Nancy Fletcher Cassell, Stacey R. Chinn, Carolyn Courtney, Gary Drake, Susan Dygert, Joseph Fitzpatrick, Robert James Foose, Evan Fugatzzi, Gordon Gildersleeve, Ulrike Hahn, Georgia Henkel, Carolyn Young Hisel, John Henry, Judith Pointer Jia, Leon Kassapides, Howerton Leightty, Dal Macon, Guy Mendes, Lonnie and Twyla Money, Lennon Michalski, Anna Marie Pavlok, Mary Rezny, Juan Rojo, George Schmidt, Chris Segre-Lewis, James Shambhu, Valerie Shesko, Dollie and Guy Skaggs, Karen Spears, Chad Sines, Lina Tharsing, Mary Tortorici, Ann Tower, Travis Townsend, Sharon Weis, Judy Wells, and Daniel Werner.

Please contact the gallery or visit for more information about the artist.

Painters: Patrick Adams, Gary Bower, Nancy Fletcher Cassell, Cole Carothers, Gary Drake, Susan Dygert, Joseph Fitzpatrick, Evan Fugazzi, Robert James Foose, Ulrike Hahn, Georgia Henkel, Carolyn Young Hisel, Lennon Michalski, Mary Newton, Juan Rojo, James Shambhu, Valerie Shesko, Bill Santen, Karen Spears, Lina Tharsing, Robert Tharsing, Ann Tower, Sharon Weis, Judy Wells, and Daniel Werner

Sculptors: Stacey R. Chinn, Chad Sines, Judith Pointer Jia, Janet Neuwalder, Geoff Smith, Gordon Gildersleeve and Travis Townsend

Photographers: Carolyn Courtney, Ed Lawrence, Guy Mendes, Mary Rezny, and Mary Tortorici

Folk artists: Minnie Adkins, JoAnn Butts, Lonnie and Twyla Money, and Dolly & Guy Skaggs.

The gallery, in the Downtown Arts Center, 141 East Main St., Lexington, KY, 40507, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 am - 5 pm; 10 am to 2 pm Sundays; and with extended hours during special events and theater performances. For more information please contact Ann, Lina, or Celeste at (859) 425-1188.