Kay Ritter
My paintings have evolved over the last twenty years from relatively traditional, carefully observed still life to include pieces that are more narrative in nature. During the first two decades of my career I created three-dimensional characters with a humorous aspect. Although I am no longer involved in that work, the playful quality has reemerged in my paintings and for me completes a circle.
As a painter, I feel most engaged when combining precisely rendered arrangements with invented additions, often birds, animals or people. Although I like to begin a story, it's important to leave some ambiguity so as to encourage the viewer to imagine where it might lead. Nothing pleases me more than watching this happen. It feels like a conversation in another language which in the end is what art is all about.
Education
1968 - 1971
Rhode Island School of Design
Awards
2018
First Place Painting, Newport Art Museum Annual Juried Members Show, Newport RI
2015
Honorable Mention, Newport Art Museum Annual Juried Members Show, Newport, RI
2011
The Everett Molinari Memorial Award, AAPL 83rd Grand National Exhibition, New York, NY
2003
Finalist, The Artist's Magazine 21st Annual Competition
2001
Third Place, Third Annual National Juried Exhibition, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA
Exhibitions
Solo
2017
The Chapman Art Gallery, Cotuit, MA
2008
Mark Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Mark Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Mark Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
2003
Mark Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
1998
Gross MacCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Group
2018
Insatiable, The Dunedin Fine Arts center, Dunedin, FL
2018
The Attleboro Art Museum, Attleboro, MA
2018
The Chapman Art Gallery, Cotuit, MA
2016
Still Life Lives: Rhode Island Perspectives, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
2009
Mark Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY
2007
The William Scott Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Publications and Press
Providence Journal, Getting an Eyeful at Newport Show, February, 2018
American Art Review, Still Life Lives: A Rhode Island Perspective, August, 2016
American Art Collector, Collecting Still Life, January, 2012
The Inspired Garden, Twenty Four Artists Share Their Vision, Nancy Paolino and Nance Trueworthy, Downeast Press, 2009