The Rice Polak Gallery is excited to announce our second feature exhibition of the 2024 season. We will be exhibiting the work of William Ciccariello, Nick Patten & Sean Thomas.

WILLIAM CICCIARIELLO

I've waited a long time to exhibit this amazing project of Bill Ciccariello's. “Lower 48”, comprised of 48 paintings, is a narrative of the life of a man, Jeremiah Smith, in the mid to late 1800’s. It is a work of fiction. It chronicles Jeremiah Smith’s life from an orphaned young boy, through his experience as a drummer boy in the Civil War, meeting other characters that figure as touchstones in his life and to his death; encountering and experiencing tragedy, loss, hardship, violence and, occasionally, joy. It is a story of a fragment of life in America in the last part of the 19th century.

"In my past work I have portrayed how people and their efforts are often forgotten; This story, “Lower 48”, continues to explore these ideas of loss, impermanence and fragility, and in doing so, tells a story of a life not wholly forgotten".

NICK PATTEN

Nick Patten, often described as an American Vermeer, brings beauty and mystique to everyday scenes, with simple subjects yet profound vision. This year’s body of work was inspired by the historic Mary Heaton Vorse House in Provincetown.   

“I strive to bring a quiet drama to everyday scenes,” said artist Nick Patten. “My paintings are never intended to be ‘photographic.’ In part, my aim is to make paintings where the content of the image is most compelling, and how the painting was made is secondary. In a sense, attempting to make the work exceed the medium. Settling on a composition for one of my room interior paintings is a progressive process. I pick and choose the most interesting and necessary elements from an array of photographs, often adding items from my imagination. Light & dark is a primary focus of my painting, with particular attention to brush stroke and gradation in the darkest areas".

SEAN THOMAS

Sean Thomas uses paint to manipulate the context of everyday surroundings. Tensions and spatial relationships are continually evaluated and adjusted, resulting in layered works which reinforce a sense of harmony, time and eventual decay. works are his response to the relationship between the artificial and natural environment. Drawing from subject matter such as industrial complexes, expressways, and discarded plastic toys, he utilizes paint to shift the various tensions that exist within these commonplace environments in order to distort their context. Sean graduated from RISD and is the recipient of the RISCA Fellowship for painting.

“The current body of work extracts material from specific locations in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and New York,” said artist Sean Thomas. “The references accumulated over the past couple years are processed and manipulated to create imagery that emphasizes fragmented color and space, linear repetition, and atmosphere.”

Date: Now Through Wednesday July 31, 2024

Hours: Open Daily & Weekend Evenings and gladly by appointment. Please call 508-237-5499 or email the gallery.

Location: Rice Polak Gallery, 430 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657

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