Birthday (SOLD)
15" x 11”
Acrylic & Gouache On Paper
Occasion (SOLD)
15" x 11”
Acrylic & Gouache On Paper
Snake Charmer (SOLD)
15" x 11”
Acrylic & Gouache On Paper
Arrangement With Cloud (SOLD)
24" x 20"
Oil On Canvas
Elaboration (SOLD)
30" x 24"
Oil And Acrylic On Canvas On Panel
"Making art has always been a revelatory process, all of my work begins with vague sketches often the size of large postage stamps leading to the beginning of a series. These sketches are chosen because they excite a visceral reaction, almost like falling in love.
In these pieces the imagery is twisted and manipulated into places where an unknown narrative could take place, in place of a figure, the land, the flora, rocks, branches, and puddles become metaphors for the anthropomorphic. The images become a setting for fantasy infused with memory alluding to a story but not a specific one I could give voice to. What I find intriguing is the way a story unspools when these shapes, colors, and textures are interacting with one another; it has the potential for myriad possibilities."
Flirt, 30" x 24", Oil And Acrylic On Canvas On Panel
"Without a pre-ordained plan (the sketch is but a starting point) I relish diving into the unknown: could the slip of a pencil, or brush or the accidental splash lead to new possibilities? What could this paint blob suggest? The romance of landscape and nature as evidenced in the seductive landscapes of French rococo painters, forest still lifes (sottobosco), and older botanical illustrations are springboards for these pieces augmented by direct observation. I have an interest in exploring the intersection of the unreal, illogical, imagined, the real, the vast and the minute.
The images become a setting for fantasy infused with memory alluding to a story but not a specific one I could give voice to. What I find intriguing is the way a story unspools when these shapes, colors, and textures are interacting with one another; it has the potential for myriad possibilities. Through these paintings I attempt to explain the unfathomable, the mysterious, the coincidences, the indescribable, the strangeness, the fantastical and the memories of experience.
In the course of making these paintings, my insistence on a color, shape, or texture is frequently ‘corrected’ by the painting telling me what it wants and needs. On a broader scale, I usually think I am doing a certain thing, but as I work I learn I am really doing something else.
A strong influence was living in New Mexico for two years and continuing to be mesmerized by the fantastical landscape and vistas after all these years. Clashes between the ways I think and dream about the landscape and its actualities continue filtering through my imagination..."
"...I still see these paintings as narrative in as much as they could be settings for a variety of stories.
Among the artists I have found to be influential, are Charles Burchfield, George Innes, Rachel Ruysch, along with many painters of the rococo. In contemporary painting the paintings of Inka Essenhigh and Lisa Yuskavage are always evocative."
Elaboration, 30" x 24", Oil And Acrylic On Canvas On Panel
Marilyn Holsing lives and works in Philadelphia. She has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond, including, The Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington, Delaware; Melanee Cooper Gallery in Chicago; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; the ICA at the University of Pennsylvania and Field Projects, New York. Her work is included in public collections such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Woodmere Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Fidelity Investments. She is Professor Emerita in painting at Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia.
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"An Ohioan by birth, I have lived and worked in the Philadelphia area for decades, moving here to teach at Tyler School of Art after graduate school. My undergraduate degree (BFA) is from the Ohio State University and my graduate degree (MA) is from the University of New Mexico. I retired as Professor of Painting a few years ago, but I have continued to work in the studio in a variety of media. My practice has branched out into new directions, such as dioramas, while continuing my commitment to painting.
In these years I have lived in the city followed by a move to the suburbs. One of the joys of life in the suburbs is the opportunity to garden. Not only do I grow flowers and shrubs, but I like re-designing the plantings, interests that reveal themselves in my studio work."
Marilyn Holsing: It began as a test: could I create a space within and simultaneously contend with what happens on the shiny surface, as well as the distortions of glass? And what could happen outside the bell jar/cloche? The landscape elements are pure invention: they begin with abstract color blobs that I manipulate into flowers, leaves, bushes, sticks, stones, etc. Constriction adds to their drama, sometimes flowers or leaves are pressed against the glass almost straining to escape.
Part of the challenge of these pieces is making the glass transparent at the same time they depict what is reflected on the surface. I combined observation of the actual cloches in my studio with photographs of glass cloches from the internet. I was particularly interested in what happens at their edges when they seemingly disappear into the background...
Gross McCleaf Gallery is pleased to present Paintings, a new solo exhibition by Peter Van Dyck. In his recent body of work, Van Dyck begins with an overarching spatial framework, constructing a unified field of space before turning his attention to the objects it contains. Interiors, still lifes, and thresholds unfold through measured shifts in perspective, resulting in the subtle curvature that defines his work.
Gross McCleaf Gallery is also proud to present On Longing, a new solo exhibition by Marilyn Holsing. In this body of work, Holsing begins each painting with a colored ground of layered hues, building from that base until flora, tendrils, and shadowy environments take shape. Influenced by her work with dioramas and glass cloches, she studies how light reflects, distorts, and obscures, and how a surface can both reveal and conceal what lies within.
Gross McCleaf is pleased to present Short & Sweet IV, a pair of mini-exhibitions featuring works by Marilyn Holsing and Heidi Leitzke. These southeastern Pennsylvania-based painters focus on the investigation and narrative possibilities of botanicals.
Oil and gouache artist Marilyn Holsing depicts anthropomorphized arrangements that convey their distinct personalities through form and gesture. Flowers are posed in precarious positions, emphasizing strength and persistence. Her seemingly corporeal subjects huddle humorously in vulnerable vignettes, some beaming with pride, while others appear to droop in sorrow. Their leaves stretch and strain as they tenaciously grasp onto neighboring stems, reinforcing the growing tangle.
While Holsing’s colors and textures accurately depict the delicate, natural beauty of her plants, there are alluring details throughout that lean into the delightfully grotesque.
