James Winn in Fine Art Connoisseur - March, 2015

Digital Issues Newsletter, March 6, 2015

James Winn, UPSTATE SERIES: NO. 5, Acrylic on Paper, image 15 x 36" framed 25 1/2 x 46"

James Winn, UPSTATE SERIES: NO. 5, Acrylic on Paper, image 15 x 36" framed 25 1/2 x 46"

Panoramic Landscapes by James Winn

Jeffrey Carlson Reporting, Editor, Fine Art Today
What's left to accomplish for an artist collected by the Art Institute of Chicago and fine art connoisseurs across the Midwest? More majestic visions of the American landscape.

This weekend Milwaukee's Tory Folliard Gallery premieres a solo show for artist James Winn, who is exhibiting scenes of the Midwest and upstate New York, as well as works from his "Lotus" series. "James Winn: New Paintings" opens March 7 and will remain on view through April 11.

James Winn, ADIRONDACK SHOWERS, Acrylic on Paper, image 11 x 26" framed 22 x 36 1/4"

James Winn, ADIRONDACK SHOWERS, Acrylic on Paper, image 11 x 26" framed 22 x 36 1/4"

James Winn, FLOOD PLAIN: NO. 3, Acrylic on Paper, image 19 1/2 x 46" framed 30 1/2 x 58 1/2"

James Winn, FLOOD PLAIN: NO. 3, Acrylic on Paper, image 19 1/2 x 46" framed 30 1/2 x 58 1/2"

Perspective plays a central role in Winn's art. Taking a bird's-eye view, Winn gives the viewer a privileged vantage point from which to contemplate expansive skies, moody and resplendent, nostalgic rural farmland, and imposing mountain ranges. Elsewhere, Winn places us eye-to-eye with herons, amid lily pads coloring a serene lake. Frequently working on a monumental scale, with extreme horizontal paper or panel, Winn focuses attention to the breadth of the landscape.

James Winn, SPRING LAKE NO. 7, Acrylic on Panel, image 29 x 96" framed 31 x 98"

James Winn, SPRING LAKE NO. 7, Acrylic on Panel, image 29 x 96" framed 31 x 98"

James Winn, LOTUS LILIES NO. 28, Acrylic on Panel, 12 1/2 x 48"

James Winn, LOTUS LILIES NO. 28, Acrylic on Panel, 12 1/2 x 48"

In all, a sense of nature's magnificence and meaning pervades. Winn says, "It's those quiet moments of the mystery of the last light that represent my latest efforts: to present that moment when nature whispers that there is more in the world than what meets the eye."

James Winn, LATE FEBRUARY, Acrylic on Paper, image 11 x 26" framed 22 x 36 1/4"

James Winn, LATE FEBRUARY, Acrylic on Paper, image 11 x 26" framed 22 x 36 1/4"

James Winn (b. 1949) studied first at the Academy of Art in Chicago and later at Illinois State University, from which he earned an M.F.A. in 1980. Since then, Winn has participated in numerous exhibitions, including solo shows at Fischbach Gallery in New York (2013, 2011), Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago (2006, 1997), and Tory Folliard Gallery, among others. His paintings are in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Illinois State Museum, the Philbrook Museum, the Arkansas Art Center, the Cedar Rapids Art Museum, and many more public and private collections throughout the Midwest.

To learn more, visit Tory Folliard Gallery's website.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.