Robert Morris: October 6-November 18, 2001

This selection of sixteen paintings by contemporary American realist painter Don Nice focuses on his work from the mid-1980s onward. A classic figure in American art, Nice brings a contemporary vision to the American landscape tradition. Deeply committed to painting the quintessential landscape, Nice comfortably juxtaposes such icons of American culture as sneakers, Hershey bars, Coke bottles, popcorn, and sunglasses, along with a diverse lexicon of flora and fauna, to create his paintings. After moving to the Hudson Valley in 1969, Nice was captivated by the Hudson River, which continues to inspire and inform his work and which was the principal focus of the larger exhibition from which these paintings were drawn. Also included are essays by Tammis K. Groft, chief curator at the Albany Institute of History and Art, and art historian Jeffrey Hoffeld. Of special interest is an artist’s statement in which Nice discusses his most recent paintings and their use of updated materials, specifically the use of organic dyes on shaped anodized aluminum.