Expressions in Black and White: Suzanne Tanner Chitwood, David Hawkins, Ivy Naté, Nick Watson
30 March – 29 April 2018
Expressions in Black and White features art by Suzanne Tanner Chitwood, David Hawkins, Ivy Naté and Nick Watson.  Although the chosen mediums and colors of these four artists are limited to shades of black and white, their resulting creations in collage, charcoal, monotype, and sculpture are richly diverse in form and expression.

Suzanne Tanner Chitwood is well known not only for her full-scale renderings in charcoal on paper of dogs, cows and other animals, but also for her award winning childrens’ books featuring exquisite torn paper collages. In her work for this show she combines her charcoal and torn paper collage technique with her signature subjects, here over life-sized Black Angus cattle, parts of cattle and a jet-black horse in two parts. These may stand alone or as a herd or diptych. One thinks of Rodin’s use of sculptural body parts to stand for the whole. Each piece is a tour-de-force evoking the dignity and inner life of the subjects through her wide range of textures and hues, impeccable compositions and monumentality of scale.

David Hawkins will exhibit his ink monotypes of dramatic landscapes both real and imaginary. The monotype, or one of a kind print, was first dubbed a “painterly print” by its 17th century inventor and Hawkins treats each of his as a gestural romantic and mysterious painting. Although many bring to mind our Central Virginia landscapes, Hawkins prefers ambiguity of place (for them to be both “anywhere and nowhere”) and for his work to act as “vessels for something…mystic, religious, spiritual, emotional.”
This show  also debuts sculptural creations by New York artist Ivy Naté, who re- creates what  she calls “IFFM” (Inanimate Furry Family Members). She is fascinated by the intense bond between humans and their inanimate loved ones and by what raw human emotion they carry or mask. Her work for the show will include bunnies, owls and her heart-wrenching “Inside Outs,” Teddy Bears sewn literally inside out, revealing the vulnerability of us all.

Nick Watson masterfully manipulates shadow, negative space and movement in his steel sculpture. For this show, he exhibits table mounted pieces as well as wall and ceiling mounted sculptures in steel and other materials such as zinc, acrylic resin and cement, each one activating and calling attention to movement and the space around us. A haiku will accompany each sculpture, adding new layers of association and meaning.

The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday 1 – 5 and by appointment and is located at 841 Wolf Trap Rd in Charlottesville.