The Paintings of Irene Salley
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The oil landscapes of Iréne Salley capture the earthy, vibrant essence of North Central Florida through the eyes of a French post-impressionist. Her swirling strokes and shimmering colors seem to literally swim over the canvas. In some paintings the local beauty of her Gainesville home is captured in blithe, animated tones. |
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Each painting explores the boundaries between what is seen and what is imagined to be.
Salley, who was born in Guadeloupe, a small, tropical island in the French West Indies, realized her passion for art when she moved to Paris in 1974. Her ties to France and the post-impressionist movement that began there can be seen in her spontaneous, emotional style.
Salley's subject matter is now influenced by her American experience. In fact, it wasn't until she moved to Florida and discovered the natural beauty of the American Southeast that she began to paint. The rolling prairie landscapes, the indigenous flora, even the marshy swamplands of south Florida have inspired her to put oil to canvas, where Paris, that "city of stone" as Salley calls it, and its imposing architecture, could not.
Like the artists who have influenced her, Salley is in love with color and motion. Each painting dances with excitement. Salley is not concerned with capturing the physical details of the image before her. Rather, she is intent on expressing the emotions those images convey. She applies her paint in rhythm to the moods within and around her, painting in giant, surging brush strokes or short, rapid swipes of the painter's knife. She is, in fact, in love with the process of painting almost as much as she is with the subjects and stories of her art.
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EXHIBITS
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Judith Voglesonger- Art Gallery Opening- Charlotte NC- November 7th 2009
Art for A Cause- Sebastian Ferrero Foundation- Gainesville-Florida- November 5th 2009
Thomas Center Museum of Art Juried Exibition- Gainesville Florida- August 2009
Elected Florida Painter of the Year by Seven Oaks Elementary School - Pasco County, 2007.
Coconut Grove Arts Festival - February, 2007
Cedar Key Art Gallery Opening - November 17, 2006 VIEW PHOTOS
"Art and Music by the Sea" - October 15, 2006 VIEW PHOTOS
Cedar Key, Florida - Benefiting Haven Hospice - Tri-Counties Care Center Capital Campaign
"Feelings of Joy", Cabinet Meeting Room of the Capital Complex - Tallahassee, Florida
"Escape from the Extraordinary" Alla Prima Fine Art Gallery - St. Petersburg, Florida
Indigo Studios and Fine Arts - Mount Dora, Florida
"Gallery Under the Oaks" Micanopy Community Council for the Arts - Micanopy, Florida
Leonardo's 706 Show - Gainesville, Florida
Mount Dora Art Festival
Disney/SBA National Entrepreneur Center - Orlando, Florida
"First Day of Spring", private exhibition - Gainesville, Florida
"Paintings by Irene Salley", private exhibition - Jacksonville, Florida
Three Legged Dog Gallery solo exhibition - Mount Dora, Florida
March of Dimes Exhibition - Gainesville, Florida
Thomas Center Galleries Regional Exhibition - Gainesville, Florida
Art in the Airport, "Explosion of Color" - Gainesville, Florida
"Oil and Vinegar", Elizabeth Street Complex - Atlanta, Georgia
"Spring in my Heart", Still Life in G Fine Art Gallery - Gainesville, Florida
Community Cancer Center of North Florida opening exhibition - Gainesville, Florida
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Artist’s
Statement
My passion for
art came to me slowly and there is no definitive starting point.
My ties to the
romantic French West Indies where I was born, my beloved France, where I lived,
my enthusiasm for the post-impressionist can all be seen in my spontaneous,
emotional style. .
My subject
matter is now influenced by my American experience.
I am in love
with color and motion. I need to express the emotions and the
energy that images convey and I am in love with the process of painting
almost as much as with the subjects and stories of my landscapes.
As I get older,
I realize that my intellect guides me in the conception of the painting. Each painting explores the boundaries between what is seen
and what is imagined to be.
I like to think
that my landscapes capture the vibrant essence of the beautiful Earth.
There is a long
road in front of me and it is fun and exhilarating to imagine where it will
take me.
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