“Painter To Painter” Series To Debut At Parrish Art Museum In July

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill is set to introduce a new series on Sunday, July 2 where artists will lead gallery talks on current Parrish exhibits. Painter to Painter kicks off with Eric Fischl, an internationally acclaimed American figurative painter and sculptor, who will share his personal and professional insights on the Museum’s John Graham: Maverick Modernist exhibit.

“Eric and I have had many conversations about the artist John Graham, and when the idea of a gallery talk arose, he graciously agreed to lead one—but not from the perspective of an art historian, but just ‘painter to painter,'” said Alicia G. Longwell, the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator at the Parrish. “That’s how the series came to be.”

Fischl currently lives in Sag Harbor and was raised on Long Island. He earned his B.F.A. from the California Institute for the Arts in 1972, before relocating to Canada to teach at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1974. But Fischl couldn’t stay away from the Big Apple for long and once again moved back to New York in 1978.

Fischl’s paintings, sculptors, drawings and prints have been shown in numerous museums worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Museum of Modern Art. Fischl has collaborated with many great artists and authors, including E.L Doctorow, Allen Ginsberg, Jamaica Kincaid, Jerry Slatz and Frederic Tuten. He is also a fellow at The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts of Science.

The critically-acclaimed John Graham: Maverick Modernist exhibition is the first comprehensive retrospective in 30 years of work by John Graham. The exhibit was organized by Longwell and features 65 paintings and a selection of important works on paper from Graham’s influential four-decade career. The exhibit is set up chronologically and shows Graham’s progression from cubist-influenced still lives to more abstract portraits. Graham then developed a different style of portraits inspired by Renaissance and 19th century French artists.

The Parrish hopes that this new series will help to shed light on current exhibitions from unique perspectives and also further their mission to create opportunities for the community to connect art with artists.

The next Painter to Painter program will be later this summer and feature Audrey Flack.

Admission to Painter to Painter is free for members, children and students and $12 for non-members. The lecture will be held on Sunday, July 2, starting at 11 a.m.

Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. For more information call 631-283-2118 or visit www.parrishart.org