U. of Maine Museum of Art to feature Paintings by Megan Chase

Bangor, ME – Megan Chase, a painter based in Belfast, Maine, exhibits a series of expressionistic landscapes in which color is paramount. The artist states that, “color builds the images and space and is implicit in the development of meaning.” Inspiration for Chase’s paintings is derived from travel and from witnessing the play of light, color and pattern during her daily work on the family farm. In the large-scale work Untitled , 1999, golden hues dominate the composition, strong diagonals define the garden rows, and a faint figure carrying baskets of produce emerges from an array of brushstrokes; dabs of blue, olive green, and bright red punctuate the landscape. On view 15 January through 3 April, 2010 at UMMA.

With a desire to fully explore the material qualities of oil paint, Chase mixes a richly nuanced palette and applies the paint with gestural brushstrokes of varying sizes. The results of her process and “the dance between palette and brush and surface” are inspired contemplations based on the memory of varied terrain.

Megan Chase received a certificate in Painting and Sculpture from the New York Studio School, New York City. Her paintings have been exhibited at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport; Perimeter Gallery; Belfast, and Frederieke Taylor Gallery, NYC.

The Museum of Art remains the only institution owned by the citizens of the State of Maine to house a permanent fine arts collection – one which has grown to a stature that makes it a nucleus in the state for historic and contemporary art. Consisting of more than 6500 original works of art, the collection is particularly strong in American mid-20th century works on paper. The museum’s permanent collection celebrates the long heritage of Maine art and artists; including works by artists such as Berenice Abbott, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, John Marin, Carl Sprinchorn, and Andrew Wyeth. In addition to making the University’s collection more accessible to the public, the downtown location enables the museum to expand its educational programs beyond the confines of the Orono campus.

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