Easton, MD
South Street Art Gallery, May 1-27
Bruce Bingham, Cuban Style, oil, 12 x 16.
This story was featured in the April 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
In many areas of Cuba there are carts filled with fruit on the street corners beneath crumbling buildings; they seem to keep the spirit of a lost time alive. “Going to Cuba is like entering a time warp that’s stuck in the 1950s,” painter Bruce Bingham says. “I love the underlying beauty just beneath the faded façade.” The artist traveled to the island with a group of other painters to hone their skills while exploring different subjects in a new country. Bingham’s paintings of everyday life in Cuba are the focus of a solo show, titled Cuba: Faded Beauty, at South Street Art Gallery this month. This show opens on Tuesday, May 1, and an artist’s reception is held on Friday, May 11, from 5 to 8 p.m.
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- Bruce Bingham, Cuban Clothesline, oil, 12 x 16.
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- Bruce Bingham, Cuban Café, oil, 12 x 9.
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- Bruce Bingham, Blocked In Cuba, oil, 16 x 20.
Bingham has always been interested in the small details of life. As a child she began drawing and would often sketch her older relatives’ faces, “with all the crinkles, nooks, and crannies.” After completing her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Oklahoma, she gifted herself an oil-painting class for her 21st birthday and fell in love with the medium.
The show features more than 14 pieces in various sizes that show both a variety of subjects and Bingham’s unique style. “I usually paint representationally, but I also want the paint and brushwork to be expressive and have a life of their own,” she says. While some of the pieces were painted en plein air, many were completed in her studio. Composition often takes the largest amount of time in the artist’s process. Then she moves on to color and value, leaving any mixtures with white until the very end.
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- Bruce Bingham, Cuban Fruit Cart, oil, 16 x 20.
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- Bruce Bingham, Cuban Courtyard, oil, 20 x 16.
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- Bruce Bingham, Cuban Quarter, oil, 12 x 9.
Bingham says her favorite area of Cuba to paint is old Havana, with its crowded, cobblestone roads and buildings held up by scaffolding. “I feel fortunate to be able to capture these moments in Cuba before everything changes completely,” she says. In all of her subjects, the artist hopes to express the beauty that many may overlook. “If I can show them something in a new light that they never noticed before, and now they appreciate it, then I’m happy,” she says. —Mackenzie McCreary
contact information
410.598.1666
www.southstreetartgallery.com
This story was featured in the April 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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