Sewanee: The University of the South will present an exhibition of Cumberland Plateau paintings “Sewanee Trails and Coves” by New York artist and architect Tony Winters from Oct. 4-Nov. 4, in the Edward Carlos Gallery at the University’s Nabit Art Building.
Proctors Hall Sewanee Award winning artist and architect to the stars (The Blue Man Group, Ron Howard, Ralph Lauren), Tony Winters of Pentastudio will exhibit a new collection of paintings in his one-man show of the iconic landscapes of Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee. The University is best known for its Gothic Revival buildings, The Sewanee Review, the oldest literary journal in the country, and its Old South traditions. But recently it has come to national attention for lowering tuition and for the best-selling book, The Forest Unseen, by professor and biologist David Haskell who explores the same ancient outdoor spaces Mr. Winters paints--spaces where the cliffs meet the hardwood forest.
The exhibition occurs during the inaugural year of Sewanee’s “Sense of Place” program, an initiative to make the University’s 13,000 acres of land a more central part of the educational experience.
Asked why he chose to paint Sewanee’s natural environment, the artist says “I grew up here, so the beautiful gothic architecture is engraved in my memory, but I wanted to paint Sewanee’s equally iconic natural sites—outdoor spaces like Proctors Hall, Bridal Veil Falls and Morgan’s Steep.”
Describing the show’s theme as the “architecture of nature,” Mr. Winters says, “Look at places like Proctor’s Hall, for example. All the cantilevered horizontal stone slabs—it looks like Frank Lloyd Wright’s house Falling Water—and I’m sure Wright studied natural landscape forms for many of his ideas.” Mr. Winters' landscape paintings depict multi-layered stone cliffs with twisting, sometimes bizarre forms that rise high above the forest floor. When asked about his influences, the artist says, “My paintings are a combination of everything I’ve assimilated from not only art but also philosophy, and music –like my reading of Emerson or Thoreau with The Grateful Dead on as background music. Every painting comes out of a synthesis of life experiences.”
Mr. Winters is a painter and architect living in New York City. He received his B.A. degree in Fine Arts from Sewanee: The University of the South and was a recipient of the John B. McCrady Award in the Fine Arts. His website is: www.tonywintersfineart.com
Since 1999, Mr. Winters has owned and directed Pentastudio Architecture, New York, a professional firm focused on design for creative environments such as fine arts studios, galleries, rehearsal and performing-arts spaces.
For more on Pentastudio Architecture see web site: www.pentastudio-ny.com For more information contact: Tony Winters Studio, 917.438-6327, winters@pentastudio.com, and www.tonywintersfineart.com