Wilma Fiori: Color Fields
February 05 - March 20,2021
From the gallery: "RULE Gallery is pleased to present Color Fields, Wilma Fiori's inaugural solo exhibition in Texas. The show will be on view from February 3 through March 20, 2021, at our Marfa location, 204 E San Antonio St, Marfa TX, 79843. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am – 5 pm. With public and staff safety in mind, all visitors must wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines during their time in the gallery. This exhibition highlights the work of Wilma Fiori (1929-2019), an enduring member of the Denver arts community and a key figure in the regional exploration of abstraction. Fiori, like many artists, focused her initial practice on representational work during her years in the 1950s at Loretto Heights College, now Regis University in Denver. After completing her BFA, Fiori found another passion in the study of anthropology, where she closely analyzed the Denver Art Museum's Indigenous Arts of North America Collection. The intricate shapes, patterns, and compositions on items in the collection profoundly impacted her as an artist. As Fiori's career continued to evolve, her abstractions became increasingly meditative and minimal. Her inspiration was developed further in the printmaking studio, honing her understanding of color and composition while experimenting with various tools such as the brush, the pen, and brayer roller, creating both paintings on paper and monotype prints. Fiori's works are dynamic interactions between line, color, and shape, with sharp x-like forms spanning the composition and rectangles folding and stretching inwards. Bulbous figures in vibrant red overlap bands of silvery paint, offering sensations of space and depth. The series of works on paper presented in this exhibition reveal her interest in color field painting, the style of abstraction informed by European Modernism in which areas of color are independent of the other elements. Color Fields focuses on the artist's decades-long career and the impact of her paintings on the larger Colorado abstract movement. Wilma Fiori (1929-2019) received her BFA from Loretto Heights College in Denver, CO, and her MA in Anthropology from the University of Denver. In the early l980's she volunteered as a curatorial assistant to Richard Conn in the Indigenous Arts of North America Department of the Denver Art Museum. Fiori studied under Dale Chisman at the Art Students League of Denver from 1987 until 2007 and with other Colorado luminaries in the art scene. She has exhibited her artwork for over 30 years in Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, and New York. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Denver, Regis University, Denver, and numerous business and private collections. RULE Gallery, founded in 1991, has locations in Denver, CO and Marfa, TX. RULE represents emerging and mid-career contemporary artists and artist estates, with a focus on fostering investigative art practices while developing artists’ long-term careers. Outside their robust in-house exhibition schedule, RULE coordinates programming in prominent institutions and non-traditional settings, expanding community engagement with the work. In addition, the gallery actively endeavors to bring greater recognition of the region’s historic art movements to a broader audience. For more information, visit www.rulegallery.com"
RULE Gallery (Marfa)
204 E. San Antonio St
Marfa, Texas 79843
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