Gay Summer Rick: Interventional Itinerary
bG Gallery is pleased to present its seventh solo exhibition with painter, Gay Summer Rick. Originally slated for 2020’s exhibition calendar and postponed due to the pandemic, Rick had conceived of a wholly different body of work to show. Envisioning aerial landscapes suffused with the light and atmosphere, Rick undertook preparation for the exhibition by traveling, what she terms, a very “intentional itinerary” between Los Angeles and New York. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic she was forced, as was the rest of the world, to reevaluate her focus and turn it inwards toward family, friends, and safety.
In conversations with those selfsame family and friends, Rick began to recognize a common thread, the ardent desire to be somewhere, anywhere else. In subsequent conversations she made a point to ask, “If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?” Based on the responses received, Rick’s “intentional itinerary” was transmuted into an “interventional itinerary” and her depictions of that itinerary shifted to match. As much as she used it as a tool to transport herself, Rick’s newest paintings are meant as a means to help viewers emerge from their collective lockdowns and to carry them to inspirational places. The resultant locales are intended to show “moments of joy,” where her audience is “enveloped in a quiet calm, holding onto big dreams, and embracing hope for the brightest days ahead.” The series is a gorgeous celebration of our return to life. With a wide open lens, Rick explores location, palette, and the unexpected, championing optimism, peace, and joy.
