George Nick: 50 Years of Winter Scenes
Gallery NAGA, Boston
November 6 – December 19, 2020
George Nick has been painting winter scenes since the beginning of his career. Gallery NAGA presents, for the first time, a selection from fifty years of these paintings together in one space.
The paintings range in years from the earliest, 1965, to 2011. The first, Pittsburg Feb ‘65, depicts a stylish car parked in front of a suburban home, both of which are covered in snow. The scene is straightforward and studied, a practice in convincing the viewer of its veracity. Fast forward to Gingerbread House, Concord, Jan from 1982, a painting of a house that looks like it was dipped in peach sherbet. It has just snowed and the house is sun splashed, warm and inviting with late afternoon light. The “whites” of the snow are anything but–purple, blue, and pinks work harmoniously next to the sweetness of the house. Later paintings are characterized by heavy impasto and a looser hand. Where once George Nick might have tirelessly reworked a straight edge, later paintings are represented by relaxed gestures and broad expanses of color.
The exhibition is hung chronologically around the perimeter of the gallery space. Resting in the final position is Fresh Snow, Back Bay, 14 Jan. Here, George Nick can’t ignore the presence of snow and its fondant-like piles, but underneath it all sits a classic, studied, and well-loved depiction of a Back Bay building.
GALLERY NAGA
67 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116
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