This Place, the paintings of Jennifer Hanson Rolli, is a celebration of a multitude of places and spaces, from the backroads of Bucks County to the sunshine yellow cab-jammed streets of New York. Hanson’s paintings invite us to discover and even re-discover the nooks and crannies of “our place,” —this every day world we live in, rich with light and color and awe-inspiring moments—images Rolli describes as “little slices of life that are worth immortalizing.”
Rolli achieves this with virtuosity, expressing the nuances of fluid landscapes that are perpetually caught up in the flux of weather and seasons and time. These moments are masterfully rendered by Rolli with intensity and an emphasis of clarity, exemplified in works like “Aquetong Creek” —dynamic in its depth of blue, the switchback of light and shadow, and the contrast of a warm spectrum of color against dark.
Though Rolli’s work is distinct in style, it is rich and varied, and sometimes takes interesting departures. The painting “Four Mallards” has a green-tinted, decidedly darker tonality and a downward crosshatching of brushstrokes that texturally accentuates the subject. Here, Rolli “draws” with her brush, using paint as if it’s a pencil.
Rolli also explores the rich landscape of the interior world, glimpses of opulent and timeless elegance and intimacy. “Plaza, Late Afternoon” is a painting that juxtaposes the dark oak-paneled richness of the Champagne Room of the iconic Plaza Hotel against the white-blue light pouring in though magnificent windows. It evokes thoughts of lavish celebrations and Cole Porter songs.
Rolli’s work is like that—evocative, elegant, capturing things of the ordinary world and through her artistic alchemy, turning them into the extraordinary. Rolli’s paintings will stick with you long after you’ve experienced them, much like the music you carry around in your head, buzzing around in your brain long after the notes have sounded.
This Place, Solo Exhibition of Jennifer Hansen Rolli
June 1 thru July 7
The Silverman Gallery
4920 York Road, Route 202
Holicong, PA 18928