PAST EXHIBITION
Elizabeth Thompson: The Everglades
February 6, 2009—February 27, 2009

Press Release

February 2009, New York, NY – The Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the solo exhibition of painter Elizabeth Thompson. The exhibition opens to the public on February 6th and will continue though February 27th.

The artist will present 26 oil and watercolor paintings, which explore the hidden glories of the swamps, sloughs, strands and hassocks of the Florida Everglades.  It is the third time that the artist returns to this subject for her exhibitions, and in a moment of revelation she affirms her fascination and commitment, stating “the Everglades certainly own a part of me.”  It is that certain indescribable relationship between artist and subject that perhaps Georgia O’Keefe put best when she once said that God told her that if she painted the mountain behind her house in New Mexico enough times, she would own it.  And it is Elizabeth’s very subject that has allowed her such revelation - through the weeks of quiet contemplation and study she experienced while living there in participating in the National Park’s Artists in Residence Program.

For Elizabeth nature is “primal and full of energy.”  She has especially sought to reveal its sublimity in these most recent works, exploring the cyclical nature of life and death.  In her Nurse Log paintings, she depicts decay and rejuvenation both at the time – revealing the absolute wonder of nature’s ability to “heal and adapt.”  Such realizations proved utterly inspirational to the artist, who says that her time spent in the Everglades was her own Personal Walden Pond.  And indeed, just as Thoreau’s book sought to affirm that every moment of life is worth living – so does Thompson’s magnificently rendered and detailed paintings of the Everglades by showing that the beauty of nature can be found by simply keeping our eyes open to our surroundings at each present moment.  Through her animated and actively engaging paintings, Elizabeth invites her viewers to share in this revelatory experience. Elizabeth’s hyper-focused foregrounds and intentionally blurred backgrounds especially emphasize the immediacy of her subject, placing the viewer in direct confrontation with her subject.  And indeed it is the artist’s intention to emphasize the urgency of the endangered Everglades – fragile yet overwhelmingly powerful.  The artist readily conveys the captivation the lush and beautiful Florida flora and fauna holds for her.

Elizabeth Thompson is an American painter with studios in both New York City and Florida, and has exhibited extensively in the US and Europe since 1974 and has completed over 20 mural commissions including projects for the Marriott Shanghai, New York University Hospital, and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. From a young age Elizabeth Thompson knew she wanted to be an artist and perfected her skills at Mount Holyoke College, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris and concluded with a Masters from    the Pratt Institute, New York.

A catalogue is available for the exhibition. For additional images or information please contact Lauren Pollock, at: 212-249-7695 or lauren@ltmhgallery.com, or visit the artist’s website: http://elizabeththompsonart.com

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