“An Orgy of Saccharine Beauty”: New Works by Peggy Reeves

Peggy Reeves: “An Orgy of Saccharine Beauty”

August 4 – August 27, 2023

Opening reception: Sat., August 5, 3-6

510 Warren Street Gallery

510 Warren St., Hudson, NY 12534

(518) 822-0510

510warrenstreetgallery.com

510warrenstgallery@gmail.com

Hrs: Fridays, Saturdays, 12-6, Sundays 12-5

Hudson, NY – 510 Warren Street Gallery is happy to present an exhibition of new works by Peggy Reeves title “An Orgy of Saccharine Beauty.” beginning Friday, August 4^th and continuing until Sunday, August 27^th 2023. The opening reception is planned for Saturday, August 5^th from 12-6.

The new series of botanical paintings was inspired by the many varieties of ferns growing in the Reeves garden. Hence, the titles of these gouache paintings are “Fernature #1, 2, 3? etc. which spellcheck refuses to accept but Reeves stands firm in the intention to play with the pun.

“My intention is to lead the viewer over the lush threshold of abstraction and representation.”

Within the span from edge to edge of these imaginary gardens, there are contortions of vegetation that seem to be at play, in conversation or neighborly interactions. The growth may bolster or support each other or be in opposition.

“I see the plant life as a forceful, powerful agent and the title of the series, “An Orgy of Saccharine Beauty” is meant to negate the normally held concept of a sweet or passive nature and delicate existence that the subject of flowers in art brings to mind.

In most cases, what is immediately seen may shift becoming richer over time as negative and positive spaces and shapes reveal themselves. An experience of sustained viewing may yield new images maintaining a sense of liminal space and a story unfolding. The plants come together in relationships infused with the invisible energy as Dylan Thomas wrote, – “the force within the green fuse drives the flower, drives my green age;”- the garden as a metaphor for the human condition.