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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Friday, February 10th 2012
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Interview with Painter TJ Walton
''The New Modern''
By Laura Shabott
August 22nd, 2010
TJ Walton’s gallery at 148 Commercial Street was bursting with energy on the day I went to visit. Herbs grow outside the lovely space at the corner of Conant and Commercial in Provincetown’s West End. I walk in and greet a very busy woman. Elegant and driven to create, TJ is both a prolific painter and successful gallery owner.
| ''My paintings for this upcoming show are a study in placement, the push pull of color and the exploration of new materials. I call it “The New Modern.” |
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Her studio assistant, Joseph Bongiovanni, was a calming presence with collectors walking in, phones ringing and lists of things to get done. A writer and constructionist, he will have a show of his light boxes Halloween weekend at the gallery. “I love working with T.J. She is generous and has great vision”, says Joseph.
Photographer Gregg Peterson was also there to work on the gallery’s new website. He is clearly excited to be involved with Walton’s upcoming show beginning Saturday, September 4th at 6pm.
|  Dory in black harbor. |
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We sat down in the middle of the bustle in her cozy office and chatted about art.
Q: How did you get to Provincetown?
In 1989, I came for a visit from Boston and never left. For the first five years, I worked at Adrian’s when it was on 6A. Then I started my own gallery and have been a full time working artist for eighteen years.
Q: What inspired you to be a painter?
I’ve been making art all my life. When I was twelve, my mother set up a studio. Nobody was allowed in it. A painting from that time just came back to me from my late grandfather’s collection.
Q: Currently you are studying with Robert Henry. How is that?
A: Robert teaches that in nature light is color and in painting color is light. I look up to him. In the class, I am working on the push/pull of color with ink, gouache and collage on paper and material. This winter, I created a series of 20 large charcoal drawings inspired by his class. He has been a great teacher and mentor.
Q: You have been on the scene a long time with great press including the cover of Spirit Boston (August 2006). Eileen Myles says about you, “As with Warhol and Basquiat, TJ Walton is a serious artist that people like. It’s a uniquely American trick to be both popular and good.” And your style has influenced many a local painter. What do you think about that?
A: In 2005, my work deepened in its abstraction. The breakthrough happened with the painting “Red Boats in Green Harbor”. It was recently purchased by host Rachel Maddow and photographer Susan Mikula Then I painted “Ships that Pass in the Night”, a series of 21 with boats totally deconstructed to their essence. It created quite a stir when I showed the work.
I keep reinventing my self but there is this phrase on Commercial Street, the “TJ Walton” style”. My paintings for this upcoming show are a study in placement, the push pull of color and the exploration of new materials. I call it “The New Modern.”
Q: Where do you show?
A: I show here in Provincetown. In Miami, I am in the international event Art Basel annually and have a presence in Boston. My collectors are worldwide.
Q: You are also doing installations around town. Where are they?
A: I am in the Red Inn’s collection and have works at the new Joes on Winthrop and Commercial. Saki also has the first in a series of wall hangings using the old drop clothes of building painter Brian Van Allen. It’s fantastic. I can’t wait to do more’.
Join TJ, Joseph and Gregg at the opening of her show, “The New Modern”, Saturday September 4, 6pm to 9pm. It will run till September 11th. tj Walton gallery, 148 Commercial, is open from 11:00 to 7:00 daily. Stop by or call 508-487-0170.
Artistic bon vivant Laura Shabott loves to write about Provincetown. A graduate of the SMFA, Boston, she is passionate about writing, acting and painting.
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