HAROLD GARDE: You Are Not Alone
Welcome!
Waterfall Arts is proud to present the solo exhibition Harold Garde: You Are Not Alone.
Instead of hosting an in-person opening celebration, we are excited to create this virtual experience for visitors to enjoy from near and far. Take your time with the images below, letting them affect and impact you. They are all untitled, all left to your own unique interpretation. As Harold has made clear to us in discussing and preparing for this exhibition, these works are meant to start a conversation; the viewer is left to complete the narrative. So instead of telling you what these paintings mean, we invite you to tell us – to share with us all – what they evoke for you. You can send your thoughts in writing over email (send to chris@waterfallarts.org
We look forward to participating in this dynamic exhibition in innovative ways with our community, and are excited to highlight viewer responses throughout the duration of the exhibition. Meanwhile, stay tuned (through our newsletters, social media channels, and on this very page) for new digital content and exciting virtual events!
With gratitude for your support,
Waterfall Arts
In-Person Gallery Hours
AUGUST 28 – OCTOBER 16 in the Clifford and Corridor Galleries
Gallery Open for In-Person Viewing*
Wednesday – Saturday
11AM – 3PM
*A maximum of four visitors will be allowed into the gallery at a time. Masks required.
More information about safety protocol and guidelines can be found here.
A Message from Harold
“These new paintings are intentionally unfinished requiring the viewer to complete. I paint, the viewer narrates.”
We live in a time of grave uncertainty and social unrest. What we do know is that whatever limitations are placed upon us, painters will paint, dancers will dance, actors will act, and music will be made. We will not be stopped.
This exhibit of new master works by Harold Garde celebrates how limitations inform our decisions and what and how we adapt to create work that is fresh, timely, exciting, confrontational, and healing.
In his mid-nineties, Garde’s body and its relationship to the physical world has changed his life and his art, as those familiar with his past work will see. Backgrounds are now all white flat gesso, left unpainted. There is no over-painting. Nothing is painted out. Colors are translucent; gone are the heavy plastic impasto surfaces of the past. They are all larger, their marks broader, more gestural, reminiscent of Chinese master calligraphers. They are immediate. The “what” of the paintings remains the same –the human face as subject matter runs throughout Garde’s 70+ year career—but the “how” we see explored here is very different.
Garde is a Painter, and painters paint. He says that painting is about choices. He chooses and the work evolves. These paintings are large and the gestures broad, artistic choices evolving from loss of the fine motor skills that small works and drawings demand. Using acrylics as if they were watercolors, he paints wet and rapidly, as his time spent standing and working has been reduced from hours to minutes. This series has been acclaimed by previewers as some of Garde’s best and strongest work in a long impressive and influential career. Garde himself says: These paintings are fluid, allowing and demanding the viewer to find a personal completion of the imagery.
Waterfall Arts is delighted to be presenting this exhibition on the occasion of our twentieth anniversary. Our community’s support is what makes this exhibition—and all of the offerings at Waterfall Arts—possible.
Virtual Gallery
If you are interested in purchasing any of the work, please email laura@waterfallarts.org for pricing and details.
Inside the Clifford & Corridor Galleries
HiLo Art: Harold Garde Interview with Alan Crichton
Coming soon!
Virtual Events Honoring Harold Garde
Panel Discussion: Harold Garde | Artist, Mentor, Friend – Thursday, September 17
Event Details on Waterfall Arts Website | Event Details on Facebook
A Celebration of Harold Garde’s Written Words – Thursday, October 15
Event Details on Waterfall Arts Website | Event Details on Facebook
Virtual Guestbook
Here are some audience responses to the bold, new work from Harold Garde.
“Sign” the guestbook by emailing chris@waterfallarts.org your video or text engagements to be shared here.