Contemplation 8 by Donna Usher. This work and many others will be on display, starting Sept. 6 at the LGTripp Gallery in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA — A solo show by internationally-exhibited artist Donna Usher of Chester County will open at the LGTripp Gallery in the Old City section of Philadelphia beginning September 6.
Usher’s show has already garnered an outstanding review by Dr. Burt Wasserman, professor emeritus of Art at Rowan University and a serious artist of long standing, according to ICON magazine. Wasserman’s review appeared in the August edition of the magazine.
The LGTripp Gallery is located at 47 North Second Street, Philadelphia, across from the Arden Theater. The opening reception will take place on September 6 from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Usher’s Contemplation exhibition runs through October 1.
Usher said of her show, “The Contemplation paintings are about the connectivity found within the nature of the universe from the spiral nebulae to the spiral of a chambered nautilus. This awareness is expressed through references to nature’s rhythms, patterns, colors, shapes and textures which form a visual synthesis of compositions for the paintings.
“Non-traditional tools such as the palms of the hands, arm swipes, sponges, metal stylists, paint markers, alcohol and other substances are used with the paint.
It is this sensuous contemplation of the sublime beauty of the natural universe that we find through our senses peace and comfort.”
Usher said the 2014 painting exhibition Contemplation is dedicated to her mother, Arvilla Reynolds Usher for her unwavering perseverance to her children’s actualization of their potential through a sense of adventure and creativity.
Wasserman’s review said, “Many years ago, Donna Usher gave up the practice of representational picture making. Inspired by a journey to Australia to study Aborigine-dot painting and undertaking an exploration of pure esthetic expression, she broke free of making pictorial artworks based on the overt appearance of people, places and things seen in the ordinary, everyday world. … Instead, her creative focus turned toward exploring a vocabulary of circular and other assorted shapes, invented out of the depths of her imagination.
Wasserman continued, “As is her custom, she will offer work that vibrates with a rare measure of freshness and vitality. In certain unmistakable ways, Usher pursues an idiom reminiscent of the approach once employed by the great Russian modernist, Wassily Kandinsky. Like him, she has evolved a distinctive style of non-representational form, which is also frequently referred to as pure abstract or non-objective art.”
Wasserman commented on several of her paintings and concluded, “Without a scintilla of compromise to petty decorative charm, her compositions never pretend to be other than what they are in their own terms as constellations of refined clarity and balanced order. Free of superficial facility, they glow in the light of their own artistic integrity.”
For more information on Donna Usher and her art, see www.donnausher.com. She received her BFA in painting and BS in art education from Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia. She received her MFA with Honors from the University of Delaware. Her paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in more than 70 national and international juried and invitational exhibitions. Her artwork is in the permanent collections of the Cozumel Museum, Mexico; The National Centre of Fine Arts, Cairo, Egypt; Reading Art Museum, Reading; American Restaurant Association Corporate Offices, Philadelphia; Verizon Corporate Offices, Franklin Mint, Aston; West Chester University, and Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia; and numerous private collections.
