Area 61 Gallery opened a new featured artist show Monday by mixed-media artist, Paul Fontana. His current body of work, “Color Therapy", is a dose of bold color that will help us through the dreary days of winter, and provide a visual injection of vibrancy to make it to a long-awaited "vaccinated" spring awakening, said officials.
Mr. Fontana unapologetically points out that he never attended art school, and has no deep artist statement to offer, but he proudly states that he loves to paint and whatever he paints will be colorful. He began painting assuming that he would paint things realistically, as he saw them, but felt that his real calling was expressing himself through color rather than duplicating what his camera or eye saw. He considers himself more of a colorist – how one color looks next to another, how it complements or contrasts are all areas of his creative exploration. He started painting in oil, then acrylic and encaustic – which uses beeswax and pigment, in his case beeswax and oil paint, and continues to create in each medium and explore more.
Mr. Fontana grew up in New York City in the 40s and 50s and says he was a “free-range kid, when you could do that, and trips to museums and exposure to the arts imprinted on him”. Photography was his first creative outlet so composing, looking at light and shadow, and his fascination with color all were a strong foundation.
Mr. Fontana said, “I began painting strictly for my own entertainment, after retiring from a career as a middle-school educator, interrupted by an interesting and enjoyable (in retrospect) tour of duty in the U. S. Navy. The more I painted, the more I improved and found my own style. I began getting encouragement to start showing my work. It would be an understatement to say that I was reluctant. In 2007, I began selling my work at the Dalton and Chattanooga weekend markets, then juried art shows from Florida to Indiana. Painting became the next phase of life and allows me to continue learning and exploring.”
The pandemic put an end to the gallery’s First Friday in-person open house mixers with the artists, but they started hosting them virtually via the Zoom video conference platform last fall. First Friday February is this Friday from 6-7:30 p.m., and Mr. Fontana and other gallery artists will be talking about their inspiration and process, and answering questions. The Zoom link is posted monthly at the top of the gallery website – area61gallery.com.
“Color Therapy 2021” by Mr. Fontana will be available for viewing and purchase through March 15 at Area 61 Gallery - 721 Broad St. (left of the historic Tivoli Theatre). Gallery hours are noon-6 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, or by scheduled appointment – 648-9367.