September 2008, Philadelphia, PA—Locks Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Sarah McCoubrey. Sarah McCoubrey: Mitigation will be on view October 3 through November 1, 2008. There will be a reception for the artist Friday, October 3, 2008 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
Mitigation consists of 12 paintings and drawings depicting the landscapes of rural and suburban New York. McCoubrey paints intricately detailed images of her environment that reflect the unique influence of time, both human and ecological on these spaces. She uses the technique of glazing to gradually build up the surfaces of her paintings, creating depth and intimacy in the picture plane that the viewer\'s eye can travel about in. Her landscapes come from imagination and memory, as well as photographs and on-location sketches, representing a delicate blend of the real and the created environment. Large skies, expansive vistas, and a milky atmosphere are characteristic of McCoubrey\'s works.
A devoted landscape painter, her work evokes the Hudson River School tradition as well as 19th century European landscape paintings; however, run-down sheds, signposts, and other signs of human presence often make an appearance in her paintings, subtly reminding us of a contemporary time and place. Aware of the weight of history on the genre of landscape painting, McCoubrey\'s body of work speaks for its remnants as well as for art\'s enduring fascination with nature.
McCoubrey received her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and is an Associate Professor of Art at Syracuse University. She is the receipient of several grants, including the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Painting, a Milton Avery Foundation Fellowship, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship and a New York State Council on the Arts Grant. McCoubrey’s work was included in the 2008 and 2002 Everson Museum of Art Biennial and in recent exhibits at Munson Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, NY and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithica, NY. The artist is also included in the exhibit, Global Suburbia, at the Abington Art Center, August 30–November 30, 2008.
