The Old Sail Loft, 2011, Graphite on paper, 22 x 30 inches
”Carol Rowan's exquisite graphite renderings now on view at Sam Shaw Contemporary,” ArtDaily.com, June 24, 2020
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME.- Sam Shaw Contemporary has announced a solo show of artist Carol Rowan’s works on paper that was installed earlier this week, and will run through July 8th. Owing to Covid-19 restrictions, the gallery will not be hosting their traditional opening reception for the artist, however, the show will be open to the general public for viewing during regular gallery hours, and also by private appointment for collectors and clients. Rowan’s show marks the official kick-off of the gallery’s annual summer season, which features an ambitious program of rotating exhibitions of artists with regional and national reputations.
Titled “Exquisite Graphite Renderings,” the exhibition is composed of more than a dozen works, not only in graphite, but also gouache, and a small selection of oil paintings on panel. A world traveller who draws upon her experiences at home and abroad, Rowan is known for her exceptionally intricate graphite drawings depicting a variety of subject matter, from architectural monuments, rural barns and outposts in Maine; landscapes and trees, portraiture, and animals, especially horses and steers.
Rowan, who divides her time between studios in Washington, D.C. and Nobleboro, Maine, received a B.F.A. in painting at the Pratt Institute in 1986. After which she began showing her large scale drawings, oil paintings, gouaches, and prints at venues that include OK Harris and Hollis Taggart Galleries in New York, Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, and Ovsey Gallery in Los Angeles; and museums such as the Portland Museum of Art, Corcoran Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Washington National Cathedral.
“We are proud to welcome Carol to the gallery this summer,” said Sam Shaw, who founded the art and custom jewelry gallery in 1981. “The graphite pencil is a mighty tool. Patient and deliberate yields intricate focus and apparent calm in the work by this artist. Thousands of pencil marks from this serious and disciplined maker yield large works on paper that painstakingly reveal themselves to the viewer. Graphite drawings of this magnitude are extraordinary, and the medium itself is nearly a lost art.”
Rowan’s work will be featured in the July issue of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.