About the Exhibition
Opening reception: May 4, noon - 3 pm
Now that he has the time, Evan Haines has been painting prolifically. Before joining the Manayunk Artists’ Co-Op in March of 2007, he had completed some 30 canvases. Then, his output accelerated and since his November 2007 retirement, he has finished almost as many paintings as he had created, “in my entire life.” Haines recently became a member of the Board of the Manayunk Art Center (MAC) as the coordinator for special events. Meanwhile, the best evidence of his burgeoning gusto for expressing himself visually lies in the variety of his paintings’ subjects and their treatments.
While much of his work presents conventional landscapes and still life scenes, Haines has begun experimenting with his technique. “Tuscany Cottage” depicts a house bifurcated by a central chimney, surrounded with pine trees behind it and deciduous trees at the sides. The light refracted in the cottage’s small windows lends them the suggestion of stained glass. “Snow Caps” features snow-covered trees lining the banks of an icy stream which recedes toward distant mountains that stand under a forebodingly dark sky. In the imaginary seascape, “Sunset Palms”, the bright orange sunset above a gray-green sea hints at the surreal. Most experimental is his rendering of the Manayunk Bridge – a familiar scene to area residents and visitors. Haines was dissatisfied with his painting of the arched structure and, in a serendipitous moment, decided to, “use up some excess paint,” by covering the entire canvas with a thin layer of pigment. The result is an impressionistic view of the bridge as it might be seen after an ice storm.
He also paints whimsical portraits of animals, such as a plump, wild rabbit against a pastel-magenta background, with multi-colored flowers floating above and around it, titled “The Dance Of The Flowers”. In a portrait of Haines’s friends’ Burmese Mountain puppy, “Bella” gazes at the viewer with a winsome expression. The Co-Op’s February exhibition featured the theme “Dickens & Poe” in response to a MAC Humanities program about the two writers. Haines presented several paintings of ravens in various attitudes, referring to Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poem. The featured show of his work will consist entirely of oil paintings.
About the Gallery
Manayunk Art Center, MAC, is a non-profit educational institution. Founded in 1953, MAC has been at its present location, a two story brick 19th century brick stable since 1962. MAC is a membership organization operated by a volunteer Board of Directors. MAC offers a full complement of creative educational services to families, individuals and artists in the Roxborough/Manayunk community as well as the greater Philadelphia area. At present, there are approximately 100 active members and 25-35 local artists who contribute to MAC in various volunteer capacities.
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