Pryor Fine Art announces its December exhibition featuring Amy Metier and Rebecca Kinkead. The show begins with an Opening Reception on Friday, December 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. and will run through December 31.

Amy Metier’s work is informed by movements in art history including cubism and abstract expressionism, but the Denver, Colorado artist also relies on an improvisational combination of intuitive and reasoned processes, summoning and transforming objects from memory into an optical poem. Her intention and method of painting is to express duality of paint and image, the interaction of time and perception, and a response to the beauty of paint, color and line. Selecting to paint objects because of the utilitarian beauty of their shape as well as their personal or historical meaning, the objects in her still lifes do not “stay still,” but become a tangled re-mix of associative reference, perception and response to the pure seduction of paint and color. Paintings begin with a stream of consciousness line drawing of objects in Metier’s studio such as cups, paint containers, a bottle of ink, a curled up drawing, or pieces of wood, onto a blank canvas. Line is essential to the process of becoming familiar with the objects as she draws and redraws them in relationship to each other and the overall composition. She stacks forms precariously on top of one another, unrestricted by gravity and with complete disregard for Western perspective. Many of these objects are simultaneously presented to the viewer from different angles and viewpoints. Transparent paint is layered on top of line, drawn over and layered again, creating an effect of double exposure in film or multiple images in printmaking. Indeterminate traces of objects appear both on top of and beneath patches of color. The result is a recorded line of thought, instinctive change of heart and subsequent discovery throughout the process of painting.

Metier holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Colorado State University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado and has studied at the Kinsky Art Institute in Vienna, Austria. She has taught at Metro Sate College of Denver and in France where she has also exhibited. She completed a residency in Brittany in 2009 and has also shown her work in Spain and Sweden. With works in public and private collections throughout the United States, Metier additionally serves on the board of the Dam Contemporaries for the Denver Art Museum. 

Massachusetts artist Rebecca Kinkead has created a series of paintings based on memories, both personal and borrowed. Considering that the smallest things are often what connect human beings, Kinkead attempts to explore the collective human experience. Whether the calming presence of a sibling or friend, moments of anticipation, tenderness, or personal triumph, she explores shared realities while leaving details and features ambiguous, thus inviting the viewer to seek something personal in the work. In Kinkead’s work, the figure - as human or animal - has provided a generous vehicle for color, form and surface to evolve.  Paint and wax are layered, dripped and scraped to create a sense that the subject is still emerging, still becoming. Kinkhead has exhibited throughout the United States, received numerous awards and fellowships and holds degrees from Minnesota State University and the University of Vermont.

About Pryor Fine Art

Pryor Fine Art – formerly Bennett Street Gallery – strives to engage a contemporary stable of artists who exemplify innovation in technique, content and quality. Today, the gallery represents more than 40 artists from Atlanta and throughout the United States. Pryor Fine Art is located at 22-F Bennett Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit: www.pryorfineart.com or call 404-352-8775.