Eileen Gillespie

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“My work uses a visceral painting language to describe the natural world in structural terms. Direct observation of both local landscapes and distant places to which I visit serve as subject matter and inspiration. Daily walks out in nature provide much of the content for my paintings. My paintings aim to capture a moment in time. It is through painting that I discover, experiment and enjoy leaps of faith that land onto the canvas and become unique objects of their own. Emotion, abstraction, rigor and playfulness are all involved. Working with flowers and the genre of still life brings the subject at hand directly into the studio. Through observation the floral subject becomes a means to further explore the medium of painting itself. When the marks become alive on the canvas they become their own individual subject and object. The painting takes over and what is left is an abstract representation of the spark that the painting is intended to portray. The historical aspect of floral painting as a genre is fascinating to me and as a painter as I am taking a turn at placing myself into this history. In the end I find that the timeless lushness, intricacy of nature, expression of color and gesture is well suited to my painting vocabulary and sense of expression.” - Eileen Gillespie

EDUCATION

1990 MFA University of Pennsylvania
1985 BFA Rhode Island School of Design
1984-1985 European Honors Program, Rhode Island School of Design, Rome, Italy

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Harmon’s Market, Scarborough, ME, Prouts Neck: Late Winter and Spring
2016 Owen Art Gallery, Gould Academy, Bethel, ME (two person) 2003 Pepper Gallery, Boston, MA Drawings
2002 June Fitzpatrick Gallery at MECA, Portland, ME
2001 Pepper Gallery, Boston, MA, Drawings
2001 June Fitzpatrick Gallery at MECA, Portland, ME (two person)
1999 Space 12 Gallery, Boston, MA, Bridges
1996 O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Romarising
1993 O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Set in Motion
1991 O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Recent Paintings

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020 Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME, Floriography: The Language of Flowers
2019 Speedwell Projects, Portland, ME, 10,000+ Hours
2018 Danforth Gallery, University of Maine, Augusta, ME Above, Below, Before, Within
2014 Thomas Moser Gallery, Freeport, ME
2003 Boston Athenaeum, Boston, MA Millenial Boston: 15 Artist views of the city
2002 Pepper Gallery, Boston, MA, Winter Salon Pepper Gallery, Boston, MA, Works on Paper
2002 Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, The Drawing Show (catalogue) June Fitzpatrick Gallery at MECA, Portland ME, Works on Paper
2000 Acacia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Gloucester, MA 1999 Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME, Carina House: The First Decade (catalogue), Traveling in
2000 to the Blaine House (Governor’s mansion), Augusta, ME
1999 Somerville Museum, Somerville, MA, A Survey of Local Contemporary Works
1998 Arts Resource Service at O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME Context and Discretion Robert Clements Gallery, Portland, ME, P/review
1997 Robert Clements Gallery, Portland, ME, Small Works Show and Selected Works Show
1997 Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY, Drawings
1995 O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Gallery Artists
1994 O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Gallery Artists
1993 Paterson Museum, Paterson, NJ, 5 Painters (catalogue) Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY, Women on the Verge Frick Gallery, Belfast, ME, What’s Going on Now?
1992 The Hertz Corporation, Park Ridge, NJ (Administered through The Newark Museum) Frick Gallery, Belfast, ME, New Faces, New Energy II Frick Gallery, Belfast, ME, Works on Paper IV O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Gallery Artists
1991 Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, 30 Years of Printmaking at the University of Pennsylvania O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Artists Nouveau
1990 103rd Engineers Armory, Philadelphia, PA, Art at the Armory
1990 (catalogue) 1987 Area Gallery, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME Selections from the UMVA Portland Public Library, Portland, Maine, Visions: Internal and External Views, (two person)

GRANTS, AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2004 Artist Grant, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston, MA
2000 Finalist Grant, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston, MA
1998 Artist Grant, Somerville Arts Council, Somerville, MA
1996 NEA Funded Residency, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
1995 Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy
1993 Carina House Fellow, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME
1992 Fellow, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
1991 Avery Fellow, Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY
1990 Hambidge Fellow, Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2002 Temin, Christine. “Drawing Attention.” The Boston Globe, (January 18, 2002), p. D8. Silver, Joanne. “BCA exhibit celebrates age-old and modern traditions of sketching.” Boston Herald, (January 4, 2002), p. S4
2001 Isaacson, Phil. “Two trips through the trees, neither a frolic in the woods.” Maine Sunday Telegram, (April 22, 2001), p. 3E, illus. McKown, Rich. (review), Eileen Gillespie: Drawings. ART NEW ENGLAND, (April – May), p. 42, illus.
2001 Garvey, Thomas. “Gillespie’s Towering Images.” ArtsMEDIA, (February – March, Volume 5, Number 15), p. 32-33, 35 illus. McQuaid, Cate. “ Spanning Expectations and Reality, “Eileen Gillespie: Drawings” The Boston Globe, (January 25, 2001), p. D3, illus.
2000 Gold, Donna. “No artist is an island”; Maine Times, (January 6, 2000), p. 23.
1999 Fasholdt, Sarah. “Carina House: The First Decade”; (exhibition catalogue). Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME.
1997 Raynor, Vivien. “Spotlighting Two Shows: A Medley, and Drawings.” The New York Times, (October 19, 1997), p. 26.
1996 Humez, Nick. “A sense of place.” The Times Record, Brunswick, ME, (July 18, 1996), p. 15-18, illus.
1993 Cannon, Kim. “Set in Motion - Gillespie uses light to capture realistic” The Times Record, Brunswick, ME, (July 1, 1993), p. 16, illus. Isaacson, Phil. “Show reaches wide to capture state of the art of the state.” Maine Sunday Telegram, (June 6, 1993), p. 4E. Newhall, Edith. “5 Painters Painting,” (exhibition catalogue). The Paterson Museum, Paterson, NJ, illus.
1993 Jacks, Grant and Shirley. “What’s Going on Now? A Democratic Survey of New Art in Maine”; Frick Gallery, Belfast, ME
1992 Maine Arts Commission, Department of Education, Augusta, ME. Reproduction of drawing for State-Wide Educational Test Booklet.
1991 Miller, Sherry. “Ambitious success...” Maine Sunday Telegram, (July 28, 1991), p. 5G, illus. Cannon, Kim. “Harmony, chaos clash in paintings, Eileen Gillespie depicts nature.” The Times Record, Brunswick, ME, (July 25, 1991), pp. 15, illus. McWilliams, Margo. “Art in Brunswick.” Casco Bay Weekly, Portland, ME, (July 18, 1991).
1990 “Art at the Armory - 1990” (exhibition catalogue). 103rd Engineers Armory, Philadelphia, PA
1987 “Library Providing Exhibits.” Evening Express, Portland, ME, (February 12, 1987), p. 18, illus.