Lynette Lombard:In Awe:Late Work 2022-23

Lynette Lombard’s show at Bowery Gallery, In Awe: Late Work 2022-23, runs from November 26 until December 28, 2024. Rather than writing a post filled with my own perceptions and thoughts on her work, I decided to give the floor to those who knew her much better than me, and I asked them to simply say a few words about her work and their friendship with her. Before I share the touching words that her friends and colleagues wrote, I begin by sharing her artist statement from her page on the Midwest Paint Group website, in order to first take a moment to reflect on her motivation as an artist:

“I paint an experience of place. The visual, visceral and physical relationships I see and feel become rhythms of light. As a landscape painter, I work directly from the motif to evoke an elemental, bodily sense of place structured by the dynamic geological and perceptual forces I see at work around me. The material itself has its own geology and response to touch. I like the way paint turns from liquid to stone as it dries.

Big Sky West of Greek Oaks, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 16.5×23 inches

“My work investigates what it means to be part of a place, to locate myself inside my environment where masses of land, air and water rise and sink, push forward and recede, open and bend towards or away from each other. The ideas of disconnection and distancing from our environments continues to lead to the environmental disasters we are seeing across the world today and in this sense, as a landscape painter, I see my work as a form of activism. When I choose a motif to work from there is a kind of jolt on the nerves where the whole presence of a place is felt. I want to evoke that primary sense of confrontation and connection. At times, I work from memory as a way of distilling my experiences. What I want to get hold of is that slow unfolding as an image opens up and allows for a space of contemplation. In that space sensations and memories merge, connections and meanings are revealed. It is where the fragile and sometimes disturbing become actual and tangible and conjure a spirit of place.”

Drought, Ashokan Reservoir, 2022, crayon on paper, 22×30 inches

In this next section, I share the tributes that present and former gallery members, friends, and a former student offered. Interspersed are images from the current show that I felt coordinated with the sentiment of each quote.

Jenny Hager, a friend and former student from Knox College, writes, “Where do I start with Lynette? Her arrival my sophomore year at Knox with her mane of hair and unique style floored all of us. She then floored us with her determination that we would push our working with materials and understand the concepts behind a mark made. She championed risk, and was always available for a discussion or critique as we tried to find our way.

“Lynette Lombard launched my path to becoming an artist. I…was immediately taken by her charismatic passion for imparting formal and conceptual knowledge. While at Knox I studied drawing, painting, and printmaking with Lynette, and she taught me to take risks and not settle for easy solutions. Lynette also pointed me towards New York City and the New York Studio School, a life changing experience. Without her mentorship, I am not sure I would have left the Midwest to pursue art. When I returned to Knox as a visiting professor to teach her classes while she and Tony were on sabbatical, I very much modeled my interactions with students after what I had experienced with her. I think of her often when in the studio when making the choice to tear a work apart in order to find something unexpected. How fortunate I was to have had Lynette in my life.”

Blue Rock, Spain, 2014-2022, oil on canvas, 26×26 inches

Mike Johnson writes, “I've been looking at Lynette's work for about 15 years. From the very beginning one of my primary thoughts has been that her paintings' shapes and energy convey something all their own. The recognizable scenes, landscapes for the most part, so utterly abstract and muscular, and so atmospheric. Each painting goes in multiple directions. Joyously so.”

Frog, Pond & Spoil Bank, 2023, crayon on paper, 22×30 inches.

He continues, “I used to talk with her about painting as I settled into being a Bowery Gallery member. Her comments and questions were, in a sense, the same as her paintings. Both carefully thought out and composed, and very pointed, specific, vigorous, and bold. There was always a message, usually in some way related to fearlessness and the necessity for more work. I always felt inspired after speaking with her. I always felt transported viewing her work.”

Barbara Grossman shares, “Lynette invited me to Knox College to talk and critique her students in 1999. It was a great opportunity to get to know her work more intimately. Brilliant! I also experienced her spirit and lifestyle which were amazingly closely aligned. Her sense of order in the universe–the depth and passion of the visual world–was always present. Lynette was a true force as a person and a painter. I was very fortunate to have known her.”

Reflection Tree Lake Sharvey, 2022, crayon on paper, 22×30 inches.

Kamini Avril, Bowery Gallery member, chose to write about the work in the current show. She writes, “These paintings, both oils and crayon “drawings”, exude unhindered freedom. Flying wherever perceptions took her, they are rainbows; those moments of beauty in nature when opposites coexist. In Lynette’s case, being more alive in Presence than limited by her body-mind, she was aligned with Chi and consequently, every mark, color choice and space have an inevitable rightness and perfection. But even more, through her individual personality does this shine. This is masterful painting, which few attain, and is a testament to Lynette’s powerful focus, commitment and love.”

Winds, Lake Sharvey, 2022, crayon on paper, 41×29 inches.

Stephanie Franks writes, “Lynette was my dear, longtime friend who, on so many occasions, brought joy and surprise my way. She exuded warmth, beauty, vitality, intelligence and passion and I would always leave her company more enlivened than when I entered. Her laugh was infectious. Some of the best memories of my life are of times when Lynette and I were together roaring with laughter. Our shared love of art was fertile ground for many rich conversations we had over the years. Her support for me and my work was vitally affirming. Yet her clear-eyed ability to critique my work, pros and cons, was always appreciated and welcome. Lynette’s work soared in its exuberance, vitality and sheer beauty. She understood and pushed the space, the color, the picture plane, and the raw energy of the material and the process in powerful ways that could make the viewer feel their own physicality while reminding artists like me what we are searching for, what it’s all about.

In Awe, 2023, crayon on paper, 30×22 inches.

She continues, “She was a phenomenal woman in so many ways. Her warmth, radiance, and friendship will live long in my heart. Her beautiful work will be hanging in the Bowery Gallery starting next week and the gallery will inevitably be ablaze with her glorious spirit.”

The exhibition runs from November 26 -December 28, 2024, with an opening reception on Thursday, December 5, 2024, 5-8pm and a closing reception: Saturday, December 28, 2024, 2-3:30pm

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