Classical meets abstract at Chapel Art Center

By Meghan Atherton
HippoPress.com

"The Body Broken," a collection of new paintings by painter and professor of the arts Bruce Herman of Gloucester, Mass., will be displayed at the Chapel Art Center at Saint Anselm College starting Friday, Jan. 31.

"We did some research a little over a year ago on works that would suit our humanities 25th anniversary program," assistant curator Martha Sawyer said. "Bruce Herman's paintings support our 'Depicting Greatness' theme."

Herman's "Body Broken" paintings feature heroic human figures mingled with abstracted classical structures. He uses such media as oil paint, gold leaf and silver leaf, creating works that are rich in color.

"They're very large, colorful and quite striking," Sawyer said.

Father Iain MacLellan, curator of the Chapel Art Center, anticipates some questions as to what the paintings represent because of the modernist abstraction.

"There's an elusive beauty to them that's hard to grasp," MacLellan said.

"The paintings have tremendous decorative appeal," he said. "For the region it's going to be recognizable beauty."
This will be the first time Herman has shown his work at the Chapel Art Center.

"'Body Broken' brings together a lot of what happened in past American art," MacLellan said. "Abstraction is quite traditional, and the human figure is timeless. Blending the two is new."

Herman will be at the Chapel Art Center Jan. 30 for the opening reception to discuss his paintings.

And on March 13 at 7 p.m., Herman will give a lecture, "(Post) Modernism and the Renewal of the Religious Element in Art," in the Dana Center at Saint Anselm.
"The Body Broken" will run Friday, Jan. 31 to Saturday, March 15, with an opening reception Thursday, Jan. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Saint Anselm College Chapel Art Center.

Meghan Atherton can be reached at hippo@hippopress.com