Parallel Paths

Parallel Paths: Andy Newman and Gregory Maguire

May 10  – June 5, 2018

Opening Reception: May 17 from 6:00-8:00 pm

ArtTalk: June 5 at 5:30 pm

Painter Andy Newman and writer Gregory Maguire are longtime resident artists at The Umbrella. They share a studio and they share their lives; they are married and are raising their three children, all born overseas.

Andy began his professional life as a lawyer and turned to painting after fifteen years in a Washington, D.C. law firm. For some ten years beginning in the mid-90s, his principal focus was on figures, followed by more emphasis on landscape and abstract compositions. For this exhibit, Andy is returning to his figures to be exhibited alongside Gregory’s characters.

Always interested in children’s literacy issues and in literature for kids, Gregory began his writing career doing novels for middle school kids. About twenty years ago he turned to writing for adults. His novel, Wicked, is the first of ten such novels; many of them rely on characters and tropes of beloved children’s books.

In this exhibition, two artists who work side by side toward aims that are sometimes different—and sometimes similar—have chosen work that concentrates on their sympathetic depiction of character through their various areas of interest and expertise.

Visitors may decide for themselves if, and how, the artists have influenced each other in their work.