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Opening Reception: Paintings by Ida Schmulowitz

Presented by BankRI Turks Head Gallery at BankRI Turks Head Gallery

July 19, 2012

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Exhibit runs July 5 to August 1.  Monday - Wednesday 8:30am to 4pm Thursday & Friday 8:30am to 5pm

Much of what has been written about Providence painter Ida Schmulowitz has to do with the way she paints. Her large-scale canvases measure in at 70x96 inches, or just about 3 feet wider than she is tall. Schmulowitz paints outside, or plein air, a French term meaning in the open air. How she negotiates the sheer size of her canvases with the need to paint out of doors is quite an achievement.

Whenever Schmulowitz has a chance and the weather cooperates, she leaves her home and walks the several blocks to a spot on the pedestrian bridge off of Wickenden Street overlooking 1-195. She is weighted down with a large rolled up canvas, a tarp and a small shopping cart containing her paints and brushes. When she reaches the bridge, down goes the tarp on the walkway, the canvas is rolled out flat onto the tarp and the painting begins.

Passersby, both dogs and people, give her a glance, but she is already deep in concentration painting a scene she has been looking at, from one angle or another, for decades. Schmulowitz is not painting pastoral pictures of trees and water. Her interest lies in the shifting blues, purples and grays of the freeway as it curves in and around the landscape. She is attune to the slightest color shift in the atmosphere and records faithfully the sunlight as it reflects off the asphalt. She is drawn to, and sees beauty and a symphony of color, in a loud, noisy freeway that most people perceive as a traffic jam waiting to happen.

These paintings are not just large, they are expansive in their scope and at their heart. Schmulowitz has been painting this same freeway for almost thirty years. She knows every color shift, every angle and every mood of the place. And yet she comes back for more.

“I have painted landscapes outside from a pedestrian bridge overlooking a highway since 1983,” Schmulowitz says in an artist statement. “I feel a strong bond to this particular place (India Point). I’ve felt compelled to record it year after year in all seasons and all times of day. I struggle with trying to combine the structural essence of the place with my internal vision. Changes in the landscape itself, or shifting my vantage point just slightly, are the catalysts for creating a new series.”

As difficult as it is for Schmulowitz to get her paintings to the park, it is even harder for her to get them back home. She explains:

“Working on a large scale outside has posed interesting problems of transportation. My canvas can be rolled when walking to my spot. On the way back, I lay the wet canvas flat and drag it back flat through the streets to my studio. This contributes somewhat to an imperfect surface, that I like to work with, and feel it is part of the process.”

Despite her determination, there are days when Schmulowitz is just not able to paint outside. Snow, rain and slush conspire against her. Then she retreats to her studio and paints smaller gouache and watercolors looking out her window at the streetscape in Foxpoint.

Almost any art form requires dedication and determination. Paintings as large in scale and scope as Schmulowitz embraces take a certain quiet resolve to persevere despite the obstacles. That Schmulowitz overcomes the logistical problems to concentrate on the pure painting is a testament to her vision and dedication.