Curated by Deborah Davidson and Audrey Goldstein, the recently opened “The Long View: Women Artists in the Studio” exhibition at Suffolk University Gallery recognizes the work of several long-standing artists in Boston’s art community. Scheduled to be displayed in three parts over a six-month period, the first collection of works by Ellen Rich, Maggie Stark, Julia Shepley and Deborah Barlow are on display through November 21.
The timeline of these artists’ works is comparable to international artists who have continued creating not only for themselves but commercially through all their life stages with no plans to stop. They occupy spaces in Boston studios, have had representation by present and well-missed Massachusetts galleries and the reach of their work stretches beyond greater New England.
Ellen Rich paints her colorful acrylic works in a warehouse studio in the South End where she’s been for 36 years. Commenting on being a woman artist in Boston, she said, “I don’t think much about my gender when making my work now, but when first out of art school 40 years ago, I had a big point to prove about being a woman artist. I made very pink, aggressive, confrontational work, hoping to irritate and provoke the sexist male viewers.”
Rich’s 2022 acrylic on paper, 36” x 36”, “Petals,” is one of the show’s notable pieces. A well-formed and complete shape sits on the center of its stark white background. Rich layers bold colors — blues and greens forming the base; red, purple and brown oblongs jet out internally like petals within petals; intuitive black marks make veins and a pistil.