CURRENT

WONDER

July 16 - September 2, 2024 | Opening Reception on Tuesday, July 30, 5 - 7:30pm

“She is, quite simply put, the world’s pre-eminent watercolorist, persisting over the past four decades in the mastery of her idiom.” - Museum Director Charles Riley 

Barbara Prey Projects is pleased to announce Wonder, an exhibition showcasing the latest monumental watercolors by acclaimed American artist Barbara Ernst Prey. This collection not only pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of size and concept but also continues the exploration of the interplay between reality and imagination. In an era where virtual worlds increasingly dominate our daily lives, Prey draws inspiration from nature to enrich our perception of reality. Her layered, luminous, and nuanced paintings speak to issues of gender, climate and ecology, and spiritual wonder. Prey’s practice evokes the seemingly everyday to push the boundaries of what the medium of watercolor can do.

Her attention to details recalls Vermeer..it’s a painter’s job to notice, and to draw out the nuance and light in what the rest of us ignore.  Prey has that eye and hand... what she makes touches the divine and  has  staying power.     -The Boston Globe

Prey's paintings, characterized by her signature watercolor technique, are in prominent collections worldwide, including The National Gallery of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kennedy Space Center, and The White House permanent collection. – where she is one of two living female artists represented in The White House collection. Having been commissioned by NASA four times (including the unique distinction of being the only female artist commissioned on four occasions) and recently commissioned by MASS MoCA to create the world's largest watercolor (8’ x 15’, currently on long-term exhibition at the museum), Prey navigates seamlessly between realism and abstraction, painterliness and reduction, perception and synthesis.  Wonder offers a new chapter in her artistic journey.

Included in the exhibit are her never before seen paintings Convergences, Dusk and Twilight Glow as well as her print Dusk’s Early Light which is one of the few artworks that miraculously survived the devastating Port Clyde Village Fire (New York Times, January 3, 2024). “During these times I believe it is important to point to the awe around us," Prey said.

Her work establishes a 21st-century female perspective in the trajectory of watercolor in American Art but also contributes to expanding this historical male tradition.

Barbara Prey Projects, situated in the village setting of Port Clyde, provides the perfect backdrop for Wonder. The exhibition is a testament to Prey's artistic versatility and her commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative expression.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Prey is considered one of America’s foremost painters. A living master, her recently completed commission for MASS MoCA, described as a “technical tour de force” by Director Joe Thompson, is the largest watercolor ever exhibited. Her paintings are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian Art Museum, the White House, the Kennedy Space Center, among many other public and private collections.

 For the past decade she has been a member of the National Council for the Arts, the governing body of the National Endowment for the Arts, a position she was appointed to by the President. In 2003 her painting of the Diplomatic Reception Room was featured on the White House Christmas card. With dozens of artworks commissioned by government agencies and institutions, such as four paintings for NASA, Prey is a global ambassador for American Art. Tapped annually for the U.S. Art in Embassies program, Prey’s work has been on display in over one hundred U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide, including those in Paris, Hong Kong, and Madrid. Her painting Gallantly Streaming is currently on exhibit in the lobby of the U.S. Mission to the U.N.

Prey earned a Bachelor’s degree from Williams College, where she is an adjunct faculty member, and a Master’s degree from Harvard University. She has received numerous institutional accolades, including a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, and the New York Senate’s “Women of Distinction” Award, joining Eleanor Roosevelt and Susan B. Anthony.