Two powerhouse painters, Jessica Gandolf and Tessa Greene O’Brien, will be in conversation about their processes, influences, and the practice of painting.
Join us in the gallery at 5pm on June 1st for a deep dive into contemporary painting. This talk is in conjunction with Jessica Gandolf’s solo exhibition, undertow, on view May 19- July 1.
Jessica Gandolf, Flashback High Summer, oil on panel, 24” x 24”, 2020
Tessa Greene O’Brien, Fort Williams Field (tennis), oil on dyed canvas, 60” x 60”, 2022
ABOUT JESSICA GANDOLF
Born and raised in New York City, Jessica Gandolf has lived in Portland for 30 years. She received her BA from Oberlin College and her MFA from Brooklyn College where she studied with Lois Dodd and Lee Bontecou. She received an NEA Regional Fellowship in Painting in 1994. She has been awarded residencies at MacDowell (twice) and at the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Hewnoaks and Cummington Community for the Arts. She has been a Lecturer at Bowdoin College and Bates College. She has exhibited across the country and at several venues internationally.
ABOUT TESSA O’BRIEN
Tessa Greene O’Brien is a Maine-based artist and curator with a multi-faceted painting practice. She views painting as a framework through which she connects to the world and deepens her understanding of it. Working in a variety of media and scales that range from architectural exterior murals to postcard-sized watercolor painting, O’Brien is perpetually interested in the possibilities of paint.
O’Brien has shown throughout the United States, including recent exhibitions at Dowling Walsh Gallery and Buoy Gallery in Maine, and Sears Peyton Gallery in NYC. She currently a 2022-2023 Residential Fellow at the Lunder Institute at Colby College, and has attended residencies at Surf Point Foundation, the Tides Institute, Monson Arts, Open Studio Residency at Haystack, Hewnoaks, Vermont Studio Center, Joseph A Fiore Art Center, and the Stephen Pace House residency. Her practice has received support through grants including the St Boltophs Emerging Artist Grant, Ellis Beauregaurd Travel Grant, Maine Arts Commissions Project Grant, The Joseph A. Fiore Painting Prize, Kindling Fund Grant through SPACE Gallery, and a Professional Development Grant through Maine College of Art.