BROOKLYN, NY – 440 Gallery is pleased to present 3:10 to Union Station, an exhibit of California landscapes by painter Janet Pedersen. This series, composed of flashe and acrylic gouache paint on panels, canvas and paper, was inspired by the artist’s train ride from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles this past January. As a young girl, Pedersen would take Amtrak from LA’s Union Station to spend the week with her grandmother in Santa Barbara. She made the trip alone, an exhilarating and fast-moving adventure for such a young child. Taking this same trip now resurrected these memories and became the inspiration and passion in Pedersen’s newest paintings.
Pedersen is drawn to industrial settings with their familiar objects: telephone poles, billboards, palm trees, walls of graffiti, constant jumbles of debris—all strong design elements in her compositions. Her brightly colored landscapes are derived from simple shapes which, when brought together on the surface, create a feeling of nostalgia. Broad brushstrokes remind us of how the landscape appears looking out from the window of a speeding vehicle. As buildings and structures whiz by, both dilapidated and new, a late-day sun blankets the view with golden light.
Ultimately, glorious blue skies crown these architectural studies, in a nod to emotional expression as seen through Pedersen’s masterly use of paint. By layering pigments with glimpses of her mark-making process underneath, she plays with space, distance and movement. Each piece recalls a fragment of memory—the artist’s and perhaps the viewer’s. We see something that is new, yet old; in the present, yet part of the passage of time; unified yet fleeting.
3:10 to Union Station is Pedersen’s third solo show at the gallery. A graduate of Art Center College of Design, Pedersen exhibits widely, and was recently selected to exhibit her dance-themed paintings by the U.S. State Department’s “Art in Embassies” program. Her work will be on loan for three years at the Residency of the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski. Pedersen is a devoted teacher and tutor in studio art, and runs adult workshops through The Art Annex in Brooklyn. Currently, she teaches online fashion figure drawing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
On view: October 13 – November 13, 2022
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 13, 5-7:30 pm
About 440 Gallery: 440 Gallery presents engaging art to the community through exhibitions, talks, readings and events centered around direct contact with the artist. Open Thursday, Friday 4-7pm, Saturday, Sunday 12-6pm, or by appointment. 440 Gallery is in Park Slope, convenient to the F, M, and R subways.
More information: 440gallery.com
