FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2022
Elizabeth Barlow Exhibits at the Monterey Museum of Art with a Stunning Tribute to the Beauty of the Natural World
Monterey, CA – The Monterey Museum of Art debuts its 2023 winter series with Flora Fauna, a celebration of the beauty and wonder of our natural world, previewing December 8, 2022, and on view through April 16, 2023. The exhibition presents the flora and fauna inspired work of Carmel-based artists Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester in complement and conversation with select works from the Museum’s permanent collection.
Flora Fauna presents a visual celebration of the natural world centered around the work of two California representational artists, Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester. Set in conversation with flora and fauna inspired works from the Monterey Museum of Art’s permanent collection and select loans from the Pacific
Grove Museum of Natural History, the exhibition examines how representations of the plant and animal kingdoms have evolved over the last three centuries. Although the natural world has played muse to artists throughout history, Flora Fauna looks beyond frivolity to suggest a more reciprocal and imperative dynamic to the relationship – the effects of climate change and the resulting vulnerability of our region’s own unique and treasured ecosystems. Beneath the surface of their near perfect semblances of beauty, Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester share a reverence and concern for the natural world that sustains their work and artistry.
“At one time women painted still life because it was the only subject they had access to. Today, I paint flowers because they are potent symbols of the incredible power of life force on this earth, of strength within fragility, and of the astonishing ability for rebirth and re-emergence that lies within all living things,” shares featured artist Elizabeth Barlow.
Barlow and Manchester work in neighboring light filled studios in Carmel, studying their biological subjects through disciplined methods of observation. They capture the very finest details of each specimen with highly refined traditional media. Barlow begins each piece with a detailed graphite drawing, applying her luscious oil in glazes on fine linen canvas. In Glory, a glorious bloom set amidst a vacant blue background, Barlow demonstrates her affinity for a vibrant and rich color palette, inspired by the dramatic chiaroscuro and subtle color shifts of Vermeer and Rembrandt. Manchester’s works are drafted in conte crayon, pastel, graphite, and/or silverpoint on fine paper. Her drawing California Condor – Left Wing, captures the artist’s gentle approach to drawing and a color sense that is more of a suggestion. Although each artist has an established and singular style, their similar sensibilities and congruent subjects bring their “portraits” of nature together in harmonic gest.
Flora Fauna’s stunning display is characterized by Elizabeth Barlow’s original oil paintings and Susan Manchester’s mixed medium drawings. Curated with over a dozen works from the Museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition includes works by Hector Dionicio Mendoza, David Ligare, Wayne Thiebaud, Mark Adams, Penelope Gottlieb, and Loet Vanderveen.
About Elizabeth Barlow
Elizabeth Barlow is motivated by the beauty of her surroundings. She grew up in an art-filled home surrounded by a flower garden. She spent her childhood in Salt Lake City and went on to live in England before returning to the United States, eventually settling in San Francisco. The artist describes her move to Monterey in 2016, as an “awakening,” fueled by her dedicated meditation practice and the awe-inspiring natural world around her — both catalysts for her larger-than-life flower paintings.
Elizabeth Barlow is represented by Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA. Her work is held in public and corporate collections including The Absinthe Group, San Francisco, CA; the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; San Francisco Opera, San Francisco, CA; and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA. She gains inspiration from artists Georgia O’Keeffe, Martha Alf, Johannes Vermeer, and Chilean artist Claudio Bravo, but her late father artist Philip Barlow remains her most revered teacher and principal artistic influence.
About Susan Manchester
Susan Manchester has always made drawings. As a young art student, she first gravitated toward printmaking, particularly etching. Her interests led her to Italy where she took courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, studying unframed prints and drawings by masters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, many of which focused on a particular detail of a face or the body. From that training she learned where to focus, “When I start drawing, I look at the most compelling aspect of the subject and let the other stuff go.” She first became involved in the natural world while working as artist-at-large in Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove.
Susan Manchester’s work has appeared in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the United States. In 2009, she was the featured artist of Monterey Now: Susan Manchester at the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, and in 2016, a major solo exhibition, Susan Manchester: A Contemporary Lineage, was installed at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California. Her work is held in private, corporate, and public collections, including Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley; Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose; the Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts; and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She is represented by Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA.
About Monterey Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, the Monterey Museum of Art cultivates curiosity in the visual arts and engages community with the diversity of California art – past, present, and future. Through exhibitions and programming, the MMA reflects the creative legacies of the region and serves as a collaborative center where art and community engage.
Monterey Museum of Art
559 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940
Open Thursday – Saturday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
www.montereyart.org
