SHELLS 2018-2021

New Paintings and Works on paper

Bill Kooistra

November 6 - 28, 2021

Meet the Artist: Saturday November 6, 1-5pm

 Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to present Shells, new paintings and works on paper by Bill Kooistra at 121 Main Street in Cold Spring, New York. The exhibition will run from November 6 to November 28, 2021.  Due to health and safety concerns, there will be no formal opening reception.

For the past seven years Kooistra has been making abstract work that originates from the surfaces of shells or shell fragments. This series began with small watercolor studies that focused on combinations of different surfaces or textures. The paintings made from 2016 through 2018 examined those concerns in greater or lesser degrees using geometry as the structural organization. In some ways, the ideas behind the new work remains unchanged. However, in the recent works, the focus has been to explore individual surfaces, patterns, colors and shapes within one fragment or shell.

The fact that the source for the work is individual or a combination of shells doesn’t translate into the works being ‘realistically’ descriptive. The shell offers a starting point to develop a work that ‘sees’ the surface as a path to improvisation of either the structure or colors found on the surface. While certain shells retain characteristics, especially scallops, others are barely recognizable, such as works based on oyster shells. This is a general practice found in most of Kooistra’s work; nature as a source to begin a process of translation. For him, nature offers endless possibilities and since its variety is infinite, so is its potential in relation to the development of his art. It is for this reason that Kooistra rarely uses colors specific to their source for example, instead chooses them to best express the experience he is trying to convey.

Bill Kooistra received his BA in Fine Art from Ramapo College and his MA from Hunter College. He lives and works in Orange County, New York.  He has shown his work in numerous galleries and museums in the region including the Paterson Museum in NJ, the Kresge and Pascal Galleries at Ramapo College, the Garrison Art Center, WAAM in Woodstock NY, and the Pop Up Gallery in Saugerties NY.  This is his fourth solo show at Buster Levi Gallery.

Buster Levi Gallery is open Saturday and  Sunday from 12-5 pm. 

Website: billkooistra.net

Instagram: wskooistra

Contact: bkooistra24@gmail.com