The David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University will present the first traveling museum exhibition of artist Amy Cutler’s work from Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006 through Friday, Dec. 22, 2006. Cutler’s highly detailed paintings have drawn associations with fables and fairy tales, dreams and surrealism, and folk art. An opening reception and gallery talk are planned. All events are free and open to the public.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The David Winton Bell Gallery will present an exhibition of paintings by internationally renowned artist Amy Cutler from Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006, through Friday, Dec. 22, 2006. Organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Amy Cutler is the first traveling museum exhibition of the artist’s work.

Amy Cutler, Saddlebacked (2002)
Gouache on paper, 30 x 22 3/4 inches. Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina–Greensboro; museum purchase with funds from the Dillard Fund, 2002. Copyright ©2002 Amy Cutler
Image: Courtesy of Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York

An opening reception will be held on Friday, Nov. 3, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. In addition, Cutler will present a gallery talk on Friday, Nov. 17, beginning at 5:30 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

“Over the past decade Amy Cutler has created a fantasy world that is whimsical and childlike, occasionally ominous, and often perplexing,” said Jo-Ann Conklin, director of the David Winton Bell Gallery. “Inspired by stories and images encountered in current events, art history, folktales and personal experiences, Amy Cutler creates exquisitely detailed, enigmatic paintings of women, animals and hybrid-beings engaged in fantastic, dreamlike activities.”

Amy Cutler, Dinner Party (2002)
Gouache on paper, 44 x 50 1/2 inches. Collection of A.G. Rosen. Copyright ©2002 Amy Cutler
Image: Courtesy of Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York

Conklin says Cutler’s works are carefully detailed, and her attention to patterning, especially in fabrics, intrigues and delights viewers. The women who inhabit Cutler’s narratives have elongated noses, impossibly long pigtails, teapot heads or broomstick arms. They wear folk costumes, hoop skirts or dresses that become tents for sleeping and shelter. They engage in mysterious actions – re-snouting pigs or attaching chairs and silverware to their heads, for instance. The exhibition explores Cutler’s work through recurring themes, such as transformation and evolution.

“Cutler’s delightful world of ambiguity is tied to our everyday lives and fantasies. She revels in leaving the responsibility of interpretation with the viewer,” said Lisa Freiman, curator of contemporary art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

In connection with the exhibition, the Indianapolis Museum of Art has co-published, with Hatje Cantz, the first book devoted to the artist’s work. Written by Lisa Freiman, the 112-page catalog, Amy Cutler: Paintings and Drawings, will be available for purchase at the David Winton Bell Gallery.

Amy Cutler, Umbrage (2001)
Gouache on paper, 29 x 41 1/2 inches. Collection of A.G. Rosen. Copyright ©2001 Amy Cutler
Image: Courtesy of Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York

Amy Cutler

Having rapidly gained an international audience, Cutler’s work has been included in major exhibitions of contemporary art, including The Whitney Biennial in 2004 and Greater New York at PSI/MOMA in 2005. She has had solo exhibitions at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Her paintings, drawings and prints are included in the collections of the Hammer Museum at UCLA; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City; Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; the Indianapolis Museum of Art and numerous private collections.

Cutler was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1974. She studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Kunste, Stadelschule, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from 1994 to 1995; received her B.F.A. from the Cooper Union School of Art, New York, in 1997; and continued her studies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1999. Cutler is represented by Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, N.Y.

The David Winton Bell Gallery is located at 64 College St., in Providence, R.I. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m.

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