All the Light is One, acrylic on canvas.
Welcome, Stuart Hobbs, for our Art at Argo’s current exhibit, All of the Light is One! Local This UA resident and painter brings us his thoughtful and poetic abstract acrylic paintings in bold and bright colors. With our colored gemstone event in full swing and the vibrant days of summer just ahead, his works make a great addition to our showroom. We love the strong sense of story each piece conveys through Stuart’s textural layering and patterning of color. We invite you to visit the showroom to see the contemplative world he has created in each of his paintings. They can be viewed in our showroom from May 14-August 13.
“The Silence of Constellations” by Stuart Hobbs
An Invitation to Be
“My paintings are about color. Most of us resonate to sights like the late afternoon sun glistening on snow, or a garden full of flowers. I paint with colors abstracted from material objects, simply enjoying the relationship of color. For example, I wanted to paint something combining purple and blues with a splash of luminating light green. So, I put down a blue background around some patches of very thin purple and green paint. Next, I layered more colors on top of these, in increasingly smaller swaths of color. I finished by adding various color highlights. Only after completing the painting, did I find a phrase from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that I felt expressed the contemplative quiet of the painting. ‘The Silence of Constellations’.
“That contemplative quality is also central to my works. My paintings are an invitation to look, observe, and to be with the universe of the painting and the interacting colors presented. The present is a fleeting moment of time. My paintings are an invitation to slow down and simply be. When viewers leave, I hope they will take that attention out into the world. My art invites us to slowdown and be with the beauty that is all around us.”
-Stuart Hobbs
About the Artist
Stuart Hobbs grew up in Dallas, TX, where he learned landscape painting from his father. Later he attended The Ohio State University for his PhD. His emphasis was on cultural and intellectual history which included many avante garde painters from the 1950’s. Hobbs remained in the Columbus area, married his wife, Jamie Massa, and raised their daughter in Upper Arlington. Although Hobbs has always had a place in his life for art, he hadn’t begun his abstract paintings until after a formidable course he took in the 1990’s at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center in painted paper collages. Another pivotal moment in finding Hobbs’ true passion in abstract painting was seeing the work of painter Joan Mitchell, after reading the book “Women of Expressionism”. It was her painting, Salut Tom, at the National Gallery in D.C. which really inspired him to create his own abstract works. At more than twenty-six feet long, by one of the greatest abstract artists of our time, it was hard to not be moved by this work. Other influences have been Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. Currently, Hobbs works in grant management and training at The Center for Clinical Translational Science at Ohio State and continues to create and show his work throughout Columbus and the surrounding areas.
Joan Mitchell, Salut Tom, 1978. Oil on canvas, 110 1/2 x 316 inches (280.513 x 802.64 cm). © Estate of Joan Mitchell
Poetic Inspiration
Speaking to Bees, acrylic on canvas.
“Over the years that I have painted or had a break from painting, one artform that has always been present is poetry. And most of the time, my titles are taken from poems (each painting has a label that indicates that source). As I mention in my artist statement, I typically start with color and after I have finished, I find a title. I have a notebook in which I have jotted down lines and phrases from poems that I think would make good titles. There are exceptions. For example, in a poem by Donald Hall, in which he was writing about flowers, I found the phrase, “speaking to bees, in the language of green and yellow, white and red.” Naturally, I immediately, thought, I can paint that: he has told me the pallet. So I did, and the painting is included here (it uses red as the base color; there is a second which uses green as the base, but for this show, I decided for my green painting to include ‘I Dreamt I Read Green & Yellow’–which was in fact inspired by a dream).” – Stuart Hobbs
Stuart Hobbs
Exhibit Details
May 14 – August 13
Artist Meet & Greet at Argo & Lehne – Saturday, June 4, 2-4pm, join us for sparkling wine and an opportunity to discuss the works with artist, Stuart Hobbs.
Other Events, Exhibits & Works
Columbus Makes Art – Stuart Hobbs Virtual Gallery
