John Evans
On view in Montecito November 12th - December 23rd
John Evans’ recent works—featuring bays and boats, suns and moons, and water gardens with lily-like ellipses—are lyrical explorations of abstraction. They unfold as expressions of sensation, rhythm, and mood, settling into a state of quiet equilibrium. Each painting balances shape, color, light, and spatial form, evoking the places and feelings that have inspired him throughout his career. Through the layering of creation and erasure, transformation and resolution, his canvases distill color and form into compositions that feel both inevitable and alive.
His paintings are meditative in the way that they are evocative and stimulate thoughtful contemplation. "For me it's not so much about the boats but more about the relationships between the form and shapes of the boats in the spaces they inhabit. Spiritual in the way Max Beckman meant when he wrote that 'in painting, space is the palace of the gods; it's that entity where the spirit dwells.'" - John Evans
Biography
Balancing precision in form and composition with a sense of nature’s wild beauty, John Evans’s paintings capture the feel of physical and psychological immersion in a landscape. His quiet scenes are infused with an invisible human perspective, an intelligent eye that organizes the view while taking in its infinitely rich colors and textures. Evans has characterized his paintings as “ultimately spiritual,” as “theaters that invite meditation.” His work opens a window into a parallel reality and invites us to enter.
An ARTnews review describes the surfaces of Evans’ paintings as resembling “raw silk”—an effect achieved by a continual building up and scraping away of oil paint. As he works, each canvas takes on a life of its own, with inspirations branching off one another organically. “You set something in motion,” he says, “and over time it begins to tell you what it needs.” The paintings are not snapshots, but rather collages of moments, often combining different qualities of light and times of day.
Born in 1945, Evans grew up in the Northeast and received his MFA from Boston University, He has exhibited at galleries and museums across the U.S., with work in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and others. After more than four decades of painting, his motivation remains simple but profound: “Making something out of nothing, creating an expression, is a very powerful, satisfying drive” that never fails to return him to his studio.
Born
1945 Mt. Vernon, NY
Education
1975 MFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.
1969 BFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2023 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
Recent Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito
2022 Botanical Garden, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2020 Just Dreaming, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena
Breathing, Gallery Henoch, New York
Breathe, Gallery Henoch, New York
2018 A Collection of Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2017 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2013 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2012 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2011 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2010 Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.
2009 Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.
2008 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2007 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2005 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2004 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2003 Chase Gallery, Wilmington, NC.
The Field Gallery, West Tisbury, MA.
Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.
Coastline, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
Low Tide, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA.
2002 Boats, Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.
The Field Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA.
2001 Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York
2019 Art Miami, Miami, FL
Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch
Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York
2018 35th Anniversary Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2018 Art Market Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, NY, NY
2018 LA Art Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Art Market San Francisco, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, SF, CA.
2017 Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2014 Palm Springs Art Fair, J Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.
2013 SF Art Fair, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.
Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2012 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.
Selected Private and Corporate Collections
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. • Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA. • Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. • Decordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. • Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. • Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK. • Boston Public Library, Boston, MA. • AT&T, New York, NY. • Chase Manhatten Bank, New York, NY. • E.F. Hutton & Co., New York, NY. • Bank of Boston, Boston, MA. • Paine Webber, Boston, MA. • Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA. • W.R. Grace Co., Dallas, TX. • Diamond Shamrock Co., Dallas, TX. • Mercantile Bank, Dallas, TX.
• Total Systems Services, Columbus, GA. • Wellington Management, Boston, MA. • Stockton, RE, Bermuda. • David L. Babson & Co., Boston, MA. • Allan Stone, New York, NY. • Merrill Lynch, Boston, MA. • Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA.
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
Born
1945 Mt. Vernon, NY
Education
1975 MFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.
1969 BFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2023 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
Recent Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito
2022 Botanical Garden, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2020 Just Dreaming, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena
Breathing, Gallery Henoch, New York
Breathe, Gallery Henoch, New York
2018 A Collection of Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2017 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2013 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2012 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2011 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2010 Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.
2009 Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.
2008 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2007 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2005 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2004 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2003 Chase Gallery, Wilmington, NC.
The Field Gallery, West Tisbury, MA.
Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.
Coastline, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
Low Tide, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA.
2002 Boats, Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.
The Field Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA.
2001 Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York
2019 Art Miami, Miami, FL
Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch
Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York
2018 35th Anniversary Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
2018 Art Market Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, NY, NY
2018 LA Art Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Art Market San Francisco, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, SF, CA.
2017 Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2014 Palm Springs Art Fair, J Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.
2013 SF Art Fair, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.
Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2012 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.
Selected Private and Corporate Collections
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. • Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA. • Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. • Decordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. • Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. • Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK. • Boston Public Library, Boston, MA. • AT&T, New York, NY. • Chase Manhatten Bank, New York, NY. • E.F. Hutton & Co., New York, NY. • Bank of Boston, Boston, MA. • Paine Webber, Boston, MA. • Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA. • W.R. Grace Co., Dallas, TX. • Diamond Shamrock Co., Dallas, TX. • Mercantile Bank, Dallas, TX.
• Total Systems Services, Columbus, GA. • Wellington Management, Boston, MA. • Stockton, RE, Bermuda. • David L. Babson & Co., Boston, MA. • Allan Stone, New York, NY. • Merrill Lynch, Boston, MA. • Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA.
Balancing precision in form and composition with a sense of nature’s wild beauty, John Evans’s paintings capture the feel of physical and psychological immersion in a landscape. His quiet scenes are infused with an invisible human perspective, an intelligent eye that organizes the view while taking in its infinitely rich colors and textures. Evans has characterized his paintings as “ultimately spiritual,” as “theaters that invite meditation.” His work opens a window into a parallel reality and invites us to enter.
An ARTnews review describes the surfaces of Evans’ paintings as resembling “raw silk”—an effect achieved by a continual building up and scraping away of oil paint. As he works, each canvas takes on a life of its own, with inspirations branching off one another organically. “You set something in motion,” he says, “and over time it begins to tell you what it needs.” The paintings are not snapshots, but rather collages of moments, often combining different qualities of light and times of day.
Born in 1945, Evans grew up in the Northeast and received his MFA from Boston University, He has exhibited at galleries and museums across the U.S., with work in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and others. After more than four decades of painting, his motivation remains simple but profound: “Making something out of nothing, creating an expression, is a very powerful, satisfying drive” that never fails to return him to his studio.
Biography
On view in Montecito November 12th - December 23rd
John Evans’ recent works—featuring bays and boats, suns and moons, and water gardens with lily-like ellipses—are lyrical explorations of abstraction. They unfold as expressions of sensation, rhythm, and mood, settling into a state of quiet equilibrium. Each painting balances shape, color, light, and spatial form, evoking the places and feelings that have inspired him throughout his career. Through the layering of creation and erasure, transformation and resolution, his canvases distill color and form into compositions that feel both inevitable and alive.
His paintings are meditative in the way that they are evocative and stimulate thoughtful contemplation. "For me it's not so much about the boats but more about the relationships between the form and shapes of the boats in the spaces they inhabit. Spiritual in the way Max Beckman meant when he wrote that 'in painting, space is the palace of the gods; it's that entity where the spirit dwells.'" - John Evans
John Evans
I am a frequent visitor of the local Audubon Wetlands Sanctuary, and over the past decade have found it a primary source of inspiration for my paintings. Initially, using photographs to construct paintings that expressed the qualities that both inspired and challenged me, paintings sought to capture the light, the character of water, both reflective and translucent, the time of day, etc. Recent paintings have been more driven by other concerns, especially rhythms and patterns that originate from my observations as well as photos, but have broken loose from the natural appearance of things.
SAGGITARIA began as an exploration of plants in the wetlands, particularly one called Saggitaria. Arrow shaped and turning bright Yellow in Autumn, the arrow shaped leaves morphed and reconfigured themselves during a difficult impasse and resurfaced as an invention that met the needs of the painting.
So, too, with EXQUISITE IN SILK. Water Lilly leaves have become saturated in their Autumnal splendor and configured into clusters of invented patterns, spreading and flowing, floating in rhythms that separate and reconnect out to the edge of their rectilinear universe. Both paintings are inventions, made up; metaphors of the experiences I have had immersing myself into their world.
On view in Montecito November 12th - December 23rd
John Evans’ recent works—featuring bays and boats, suns and moons, and water gardens with lily-like ellipses—are lyrical explorations of abstraction. They unfold as expressions of sensation, rhythm, and mood, settling into a state of quiet equilibrium. Each painting balances shape, color, light, and spatial form, evoking the places and feelings that have inspired him throughout his career. Through the layering of creation and erasure, transformation and resolution, his canvases distill color and form into compositions that feel both inevitable and alive.
His paintings are meditative in the way that they are evocative and stimulate thoughtful contemplation. "For me it's not so much about the boats but more about the relationships between the form and shapes of the boats in the spaces they inhabit. Spiritual in the way Max Beckman meant when he wrote that 'in painting, space is the palace of the gods; it's that entity where the spirit dwells.'" - John Evans