Serene Wise: studies in grays and white
These paintings,
studies in grays and white, reflect the teachings of three Bauhaus painters: two masters, Johannes Itten (1888 - 1967) and Josef Albers (1888 - 1976) and a student, Max Bill (1908 - 1994).
"I am a painter. My work focuses on lines: I love lines perhaps as Josef Albers loved the square. I am endlessly fascinated by the power and eloquence of lines and lines are my basic design elements.
Using oil on cotton canvas in square format I place lines over contrasting background fields and I use translucent and/or opaque textures such as the brushed line, the screened line, the sanded line or a light wash of line
In this series,
studies in grays and white, the grays are mixed from charcoal, chrome yellow and titanium white. I am investigating color values and color placements. The underpainting is either medium gray or very, very light gray and the overlay of lines is always screened oil." (SW)
© Richard Shipps
Serene Wise studied art and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Michigan. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison (B.A.), the University of Chicago (M.A.) and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (M.U.P., A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning).
She was the 2017 City of Chicago International Sister Cities Program artist-in-residence in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she exhibited in Das Gelbe Haus. She was also artist-in-residence in the Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France and the Chicago Artists’ Coalition, Coalition Gallery, Chicago and scholar-in-residence at the University of Chicago.
Serene’s solo exhibitions include the American Library in Paris, Paris, France; Chelsea Gallery, Old Town Hall, London, United Kingdom; and in Chicago.
She lives and works in Chicago.
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