Works by Elizabeth Gourlay
Elizabeth Gourlay is an American abstract artist whose work emerges from a progressive process of layering colour, lines and forms, informed both by inner emotional states and her observation of nature and architecture. She lives and works in Chester (CT).
Education
Elizabeth Gourlay studied Drawing and Painting at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland where she graduated in 1983, she then went to Yale University School of Art (CT) where she earned an MFA in Painting.
Technique
Elizabeth Gourlay uses a wide range of media such as oil, flashe, acrylic, ink and graphite to create artfully simple and strong compositions.
Her work usually begins with layering washes of colours, then followed by drawings elements.
The colours are sharply and fully selected, using a wide range of colour palettes from almost monochromatic to greatly polychromatic.
Her paintings are metaphorical: some of her pieces allude to science by illustrating experiments with coordinate planes and bar graphs. Some refer to music with shapes defining sound and colour defining volume. Furthermore, some paintings suggest history and culture with covering layers of apparent worn or shredded paper.
Inspiration
Gourlay thinks of her work as a meditation on colours, lines and forms, leading to a complex network of shifting shapes and colours. "The shapes and lines create my own vocabulary of abstract forms."
She has an interest in elements found in nature, architecture and music, drawing lines, grids and geometric shapes to demonstrate it. Indeed, her work is often described by its musicality and architectonic connotations.
The use of line suggests influences from Agnes Martin while her play of colour reminds Paul Klee's work. Her compositions deal with order and chaos using a line, colour and shape.
Collections
Gourlay's work is featured in various private and corporate collections including The Lewitt Collection, The Marriott Family and Yale University.
Exhibitions
Elizabeth Gourlay has extensively exhibited in solo and group shows on the US East Coast.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015
Tempos , Fox Gallery NYC, New York, New York
New Work , ArtHelix, Brooklyn, New York
2013
Sogno , works on paper, The Chester Gallery, Chester , CT
2012
A Year Long Song , Giampietro Gallery, New Haven, CT
2011
Selected Paintings and Works on Paper , Brick Walk Fine Art, West Hartford, CT
2009
The Color of Harmony, The Gallery at Kinderhook, Salisbury, CT
Meridians , eo art lab, Chester, CT
2008
New Work , Diane Birdsall G allery, Old Lyme, CT
2007
Rhythmic Relativism , eo art lab, Chester, CT
Etudes , Diane Birdsall Gallery, Old Lyme, CT
2006
Saturated , Paesaggio Fine Art, Hartford, CT
2005
Grids and Gardens , Moira Fitzsimmons Arons Art Gallery, Hamden, CT
New Work , Paesa ggio Fine Art, Hartford, CT
2004
A Chronology , Cummings Arts Center at Connecticut College, New London
2003
New Work , Paesaggio Gallery, West Hartford, CT
2002
The Chester Gallery, Chester, CT
2001
Recent Works, Paesaggio Gallery, West Hartford, CT
1991
Elizabeth Gourlay, Paintings, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
State of Abstraction, curated by Daphne Anderson Deeds, Washington Art Association, Washington, Connecticut
Among Friends, DUMBO, 55 Washington St, Brooklyn, New York
Mighty Minis, curated by Suzan Shutan, Melanie Carr Gallery, Essex, Connecticut
2017
Big Idea, The Painting Center, New York, New York
Abstract, curated by Susan Classen-Sullivan, The Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, Manchester Community College, Manchester, Connecticut
Visual Impressions: Josephine Burr, Elizabeth Gourlay, Anna Helper and David Hornung, Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, Maine
Maniac Episode V, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut
Becoming: 30 Hotchkiss Artists, The Tremain Gallery, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT
Interplay: Joseph Byrne & Elizabeth Gourlay, curated by Ann Finholt and Walter Kendra, The Annual Maxwell Shepard Memorial Invitational exhibition, The Gallery on the Green, Canton, Connecticut
Mighty Minis, curated by Suzan Shutan, Souterrain Gallery, West Cornwall, Connecticut
Black Box, Boeckercontemporary, Heidelberg, Germany traveling to Centre d'art Contemporain, Metz, France
2016
Laura Moriarty and Elizabeth Gourlay, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, New York
Featured flat-file artist for HUE[S]PACE, an installation by Debra Ramsay, ODETTA Gallery, 229 Cook Street, Brooklyn, New York
Dristi: A Concentrated Gaze, curated by Elizabeth Heskin and Patricia Spergel, 1285 Avenue of the Americas Gallery, New York, New York
Recursive Threads: Elizabeth Gourlay and Ann Stewart Conrad, The Tremaine Gallery, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Connecticut
2nd Hand Pulled Print Exhibition, SITE:BROOKLYN, Brooklyn, New York
Art & Design 20/21, Garvy Rita Art & Antiques, Boston, Massachusetts
4rth National Monotype Exhibition, The Monotype Guild of New England, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, Massachusetts
2015
Art on Paper , Gallery Molly Krom, Pier 26, New York
Seeing Sound , ODETTA, flat files, Brooklyn, New York
Lost Cat , Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, Massachu setts
Family Ties , 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Going Big , Central Booking, New York, New York
Evolution of Immediacy , Ball & Socket Arts, Cheshire, Connecticut
8th Annual Art & Design 20/21, Gar vy Rita Art & Antiques, Boston
2014
Second Family , curated b y Julie Torres, New York
Mid - Year Exhibition : 2013 - 2014, Nat ional Academy School, New York
Perception Illusion Magic, The Westport Art Center, Westport, CT
Summer Sheets : Selected Works on Paper, Brick Walk Fine Art, West Hartford, CT
The Boston Internatio nal Art Fair, Garv ey Rita Art & Antiques, Boston
2013
Working It Out , The Paint ing Center, New York
Creative Mischief, The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York
Art Forms : An exhibition of Artist Fellowship Recipients, Constitution Pla za, Hartford, Connecticut
SOLOS 2013 , The Westport Art Center, Westport, Connecticut
New Work: Elizabeth Gourlay and Kevin Finklea, 91 Orange Street Gallery, Fred.Giampietro, New Haven, Connecticut
2012
Modesty : a Policy, The Bogart Salon, Brooklyn, New York
Paper New England : A 5th Anniversary Look, Manchester Community College, Manchester, Connecticut
2011
Shared Sensibilities : Sol LeWitt and His Friends, The Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut
An exchange with Sol LeWitt , Mass Moca, North Adams, Massachusetts
Abstract Principles , Fairfield Art Center, Fairfield, Connecticut
Out of Line , Artspace, New Haven, Connecticut
Abstracted , DNA Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts
Off the Grid: Selected Works on Paper by Elizabeth Gourlay and Peter Acheson, Brick Walk Fine Art, West Hartford, Connecticut
Synesthesia , eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
Library Science , Artspace, New Haven, Connecticut
2009
Architectural Digest Show, New York, NY, eo art lab, Chester, CT
2008
183 rd Annual: An Invitational of Contemporary American Art , National Academy Museum & School of Fine Art New York
Focus New Haven , PNE, Paper New England, Hartford, Connecticut
2007
Blue Print , The Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, Connecticut
2005
Work from The LeWitt Colle ction , Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut
2004
Crossing the Line - Elizabeth Gourlay/Zach Zau s , Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, CT
2003
The 25th Annual Drawing Center Benefit Exhibition , The Drawing Center, New York
2002
Criss - Cross: Elizabeth Gourlay, Sol LeWitt, Ken Morgan, Cary Smith, Paesaggio Gallery, West Hartford, Connecticut
2001
Collecting at Paesaggio , Paesaggio Gallery, West Hartford, Connecticut
2000
4 Painters: 4 Women, Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana
Connecticut Commission on The Arts Fellowship Exhibition , Hartford
Sum + Substance, Widener Gall ery, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1997
Eclectic Landscapes , Jorgensen Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Co n necticut
1995
The Connecticut Open , Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut
1994
Measurement, Metaphor and Color, Maryland College of Art and Design, Silver Spring, Maryland
1990
Contemporary Still Life , The East Hampton Center For Contemporary Art, East Ham p ton, New York
1989
Curator’s Choice/New Directions , The Hecksher Museum, Huntington, New York
1988
The Drawing Show , 1988, The Koslow Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1986
Selections 34 , The Drawing Center, New York, New York
James Panero, The New Criterion, Gallery cronicle, Tempos: Selected Works by Elizabeth Gourlay 2013 - 2015, Fox Gallery, NYC, November, 201 5.
Janis Mink, In Historical Context: Some thoughts about the work of Elizabeth Gourlay, Exhi bition catalog essay for Tempos: Selected Works by Elizabeth Gourlay 2013 - 2015, Fox Gallery NYC, October, 2015
Brett Baker, Painters' Table, Elizabeth Gourlay: Vision Images (December 26, 2013), Painting in Connecticut (December 10, 2012) , Elizabeth Gourl ay: Studio Visit (July 2, 2012).
Richard Benari and Lauren Henkin, Backstory: Elizabeth Gourlay, Tilted Arc, a journal of art, ideas, opinion and verse. (December 16), 2013
Stephen B MacInness, Have you met...Elizabeth Gourlay?, Painter's Progress, (Novemb er 18), 2013
Gorky's Granddaughter, documentary video interview with Zachary Keeting and Christopher Joy, (May), 2012
Joanne Mattera, A Connecticut Afternoon, (November), 2012
Kristin Rasich Fox, Abstract Principles at the Fairfield Art Center, FC Buzz, Arts & Culture of Fairfield County, (September 21), 2011
Sharon Butler, Elizabeth Gourlay's Simple Means, Two Coats of Paint, (October 22), 2009
John Haber, The 2008 National Academy Annual, New.York.Art.Crit, (June 12), 2008
Steve Starger, Physical Culture : Abstracts by Elizabeth Gourlay, Zbigniew Grzyb, Letty Fonteyne, Elizabeth Macdermid and Pamela Stockamore, Art New England (December 2003/January 2004)
Patricia Rosoff, What am I supposed to think? How to read the abstraction of LeWitt, Gourlay, Morgan and Smith, The Hartford Advocate (September 5), 2002
Matt Damsker, Elizabeth Gourlay Evokes Emotion From Strictured Shapes, Hartford Courant (April 30), 2000
2012 – 13
Artist Fellowship Grant from the DECD/CT Office of the Arts
2011
Invited artist in residence, studio of Sol LeWitt, Spoleto, Italy
2007
Invited artist, The Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, Connecticut
2006
Site - specific painting, The New London Cancer Center, Waterford, Connecticut
2003
Two site - specific wall drawings, The Ashforth Company,Stamford, CT
2000 - 2001
Connecticut Commission on the Arts Fellowship Grant
1986, 1988 & 1993
Fellowship Grant at The Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
1982
Fellowship at Yale/Norfolk Summer School of Music & Art, Norfolk, Connecticut
1981 & 1982
The Andrew Grant Traveling Scholarship, Edinburgh College of Art