According to Boston Artist, Nancy Simonds; “I make large-scale abstract gouache paintings on paper and panel. In each of my OVOID, BLOCK STACK, ARC SWEEP and CROPPED OVOID series I use different arrangements of shapes and colors to create a feeling of transcendent order. These images are anti-chaos. All strive for a connection to a moment for reflection resolution and calm." Nancy Simonds, a graduate of the school of the Museum of Fine Arts and Smith College, has been exhibiting her work since 1978 in solo and group shows throughout the US. Her work is in public and private collections.
According to Boston Artist, Nancy Simonds; “I make large-scale abstract gouache paintings on paper and panel. In each of my OVOID, BLOCK STACK, ARC SWEEP and CROPPED OVOID series I use different arrangements of shapes and colors to create a feeling of transcendent order. These images are anti-chaos. All strive for a connection to a moment for reflection resolution and calm. My works have luxuriant protean color and are infused with sublime soft texture.
In painting each piece there is an experience of exhilaration and renewal. In each painting I stack and pile simple shapes, placing then sizing and creating visual relationships that build to larger rhythms. My best paintings work like Japanese haiku; each image is paired down to its essentials and each becomes a complete world of its own. In these paintings I aim for an effect deeper than the joy of beautiful surface and color; I want to generate visual places, points of departure for states of serenity and contemplation.
In my OVOID series, I enjoy the play of organic shapes against the white of the background creating tension as the ovals touch or separate in varying degrees. These images reflect velvety textures such as moss as well as disparate edges, sizes and patterns coexisting in nature. Each shape is drawn and carved out by the edge of the brush.
I use gouache paint on Reeves printmaking paper; I blot and dab myriad hues to create complex and delicate surfaces. It is the thrill of potential in each new piece that keeps me exploring in the studio.”
Nancy Simonds, a graduate of the school of the Museum of Fine Arts and Smith College, has been exhibiting her work since 1978 in solo and group shows throughout the US. Her work is in public and private collections.
EDUCATION
1978 Fifth Year Certificate, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ma.
1977 Diploma, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ma.
1974 Museum of Fine Arts,Research Laboratory, Boston, Ma, student in the examination of works of art
1972 Bachelor of Art, Smith College, Northampton, Ma.(drawing with Gregory Gillespie)
1971 Intercollegiate Center for Classical Students, Rome, Italy
PUBLIC ART COMMISSION
2011 Beacon of Color Commissioned by the City of Cambridge (CAC) CORNER OF SPRING AND FIRST STREETS, CAMBRIDGE, MA (5000 sq foot project,Sintra Board and acrylic )
SELECTED SOLO, TWO AND THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2019 Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs, VA (SOLO)
2018 Barba Contemporary Art, Palm Springs CA (Two Person)
2017 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, ME (SOLO)
2016 The Portland Gallery, Portland, ME (SOLO)
2016 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2016 Michelle Mercaldo, Boston, MA (SOLO)
2016 McGowan Fine Art, Concord, NH (SOLO)
2015 15th Street Studio, Boulder CO: Anti-Chaos, Color & Shape Play (SOLO)
2015 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2014 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2013 REVERIE IN COLOR AND SHAPE, Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridge, MA (SOLO)
2013 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2012 POP UP: POP OUT New Work (Ellen Rich, Nancy Simonds & Heidi Whitman) Gallery 535,
Boston MA
2012 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2011 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2010 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2009 Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA (SOLO)
2009 Extraordinary, Jules Place, Boston, MA
2006 New Gouaches on Paper, Michele Mercaldo Gallery, Boston, Ma (SOLO)
2005 Working the Grid: 3 Artists, Towne Art Gallery, Wheelock College, Boston, MA
1999 University Club, Boston, MA(SOLO)
1996 Between the Muse Gallery, Rockland, ME (three-person)
1991 New York Bank, Boston, MA (SOLO)
1989 Habitat Institute, Belmont, MA
1989 Boston Lasergraphics, Boston, MA
1988 Hillyer Corridor Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA (two-person)
1988 Main Street Gallery, Nantucket, MA
1987 Main Street Gallery, Nantucket, MA
1985 Alumna Invitational, Beaver Country Day School, Chestnut Hill, MA ?(Ben Aronson Gallery Director)
GROUP EXHIBITION
2019 On the Rocks, Susan Eley Fine Art, New York, NY
2019 Portland Art Gallery, 3 Person Show, Portland, ME
2019 Lending Corporate Artist, deCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
2018 Artgrageous, Montserrat Collage of Art, Beverly, MA
2018 William McCartin and More, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2017 Perceptions, Barba Contemporary Art, Palm Springs, CA
2017 Inaugural Group Exhibition, Gallery at Bald Head Cliff, Cape Neddick, ME
2017 National Juried Exhibibition:Making Your Mark, Kathryn Wat, juror, Providence Arts Club, Providence RI
2017 The Dean’s Gallery, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2016 Mass College of Art Auction, Boston, MA
2015 Looking at YOU, Small Works, Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA
2015 Sculptured and 30D, 15th St Studio, Boulder CO
2015 Annual Aids Benefit Exhibition, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA
2015 Group Exhibtion, The Asticou Connection, Town Hill, ME
2015 Group Exhibition, The Portland Art Gallery, Portland ME
2015 Butler Institute of American ART, 79th MIDYEAR NATIONAL SHOW, Youngstown, OH
2015 Off the Wall/Community of Artists, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
2015 Mass College of Art Auction, MA College of Art,Boston, MA
2014 The Painting Center is Turning 21, The Painting Center, NY, NY
2014 Collage and Construction, Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA
2014 Meredyth Hyatt Moses in Newtown, Surface, Strokes and Light, Kelly Roy Gallery, Newtown, CT
2014 Off the Wall/Community of Artitsts, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA
2014 Selections, 15th Street Studio, Boulder, CO
2013 Exploring New Directions in Visual Arts, Preservation Institute, Nantucket, MA
2013 3-D and On The WALL, Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA
2013 What Goes Around, Andrew Tavarelli,juror, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA
2013 Mavericks and Masters, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012 W POP UP Curated by Meredyth Moses, Stuart St, Boston, MA
2012 Collage, Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA
2012 Small Works Salon 2D, Maud Morgan Arts, Cambridge, MA (Victoria Munroe Juror)
2012 14th Annual Fidelity Investments Juried Exhibition:Growth, Providence Art Club, RI
Diana Gaston, Judith Tannenbaum, Steven Zevitas, jurors
2011, 2012 and 2103 Community of Artists Juried Exhibition, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA
2012 16th Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA Joy Kant Fine Art, Newton, MA
2011 ARTCETERA 2011, Boston, MA
2011 15th Boston International Fine Art Show, Joy Kant Fine Art,Newton, MA.
2011 Jettisoning the Safe/Delving in the Uncertain, Nantucket Arts Council, Nantucket ,MA
2011 Simmons Collects, Celebrating Women Artists, Boston, MA
2011 MassArt 22nd Annual Benefit Art Auction, Boston, MA
2011 OVOIDS, The Golden Door, The Boulders, Carefree, AZ
2011 34 Harper College National Art Exhibition, Small Works, Palatine, ILL
2010 The Contemporary Landscape, Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME
2011 NEST, Michelle Mercaldo Gallery, Boston, MA
2010 Off the Wall and Community of Artists Juried Exhibitions, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA
2010 University of Maine Museum of Art, Inaugural I-95 Triennial, Bangor, ME
2009 The Boston Drawing Project, 10 Years and Going Strong, Carroll & Sons, Boston, MA
2009 17th Annual Nantucket Arts Festival Exhibition, Nantucket Arts Council, Nantucket , MA
2009 Contemporary at the Coast II, McGowan Fine Art at the Coolidge Center for the Arts, Portsmouth, NH
2009 Dux Femina Facti: A Woman is in Charge, Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME
2009 Off the Wall, Danforth Museum of Art, Joseph Carroll and Lisa Tung,jurors, Framingham, MA
2008 Calculated Color, Higgins Art Gallery, Cape Cod Community College, West Barnstable, MA
2008 Subtraction of Distraction: Abstract Works on Paper, Susan Maasch Gallery, Portland, MA
2008 New Work: Realism to Abstraction, Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, Me
2007 Biennial, NH Institute of Art, Pamela Clark Cochrane, juror, Concord, NH
2007 New Directions 07, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2007 Summer Show, Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA
2007 The Drawing Project, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA
2007 Winter Group Show, Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME
2006 10th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show, Joy Kant Fine Arts, Boston, Ma.
2006 49TH Annual Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY, Lois Grachos, Director of the Albright Knox Museum of Art, Juror
2006 70th National Midyear Exhibition, The Butler Institute of American Art , Peter Plagens, juror, Youngstown, OH
2006 United South End Artists at Logan Airport, Boston, MA
2006 International Juried Show, Patterson Sims, Juror(Director of Montclair Art Museum) Visual Arts Center of NJ, Summit, NJ
2006 Red, Cambridge Art Association, Nick Capasso Juror, Cambridge, Ma
2005 December Show, Linda Durnell Galley, Los Gatos, CA
2005 New Talent of New England, 1st Annual Juried Exhibition, Lillian Lambrechts, juror, Curator, Bank of America, Gallery AA/B, Boston, Ma.
2005 Working the Grid: 3 Artists, Towne Art Gallery, Wheelock College, Boston, Ma.
2005 Joy Kant Fine Art, Waban, Ma
2005 A Token of my Affection, Tercera Gallery, Los Gatos, Ca
2004 ARTCETERA, Boston, Ma.
2004 The Museum School at Mario Russo, Portia Harcus,curator, Boston, Ma.
2004 Works on Paper, the Wheeler Gallery, Providence, RI
2004 The Color Project/ Esther M. Klein Gallery, University Science Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
2004 Virginia Boyce Gallery, Group Exhibition, Scottsdale, AZ
2004 Winter White/Back in Black, Clifford-Smith Gallery, Boston, Ma.
2004 39th Juried Exhibition, Associated Artists, Winston-Salem, NC
2004 New Jersey Center for Visual Art International ’04, Charlotta Kotik,juror, Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum(NY), Summit, NJ
2003 Celebrate with Art, Invitational,Cambridge Art Association ,Cambridge, Ma.
2003 Joy Kant Fine Art, Waban, Ma.
2003 New Art ’03, Kingston Gallery, Boston, Ma. , William Stover, juror
2003 Tangent Gallery, San Francisco, Ca.
2002 Tercera Gallery, Los Gatos, Ca
2002 ARTCETERA, Boston, Ma.
2002 The Drawing Project Show, James Hull , curator, Boston, Ma.
2001 Juried National, Cambridge Art Association, Maxwell Anderson, juror, Cambridge, Ma.
2001 16th Annual Nation Works on Paper, Richard Ash, juror, University of Texas at Tyler, Tx.
2001 Workshop traditions, Printmaking in Boston Since 1960, Boston University, Boston, Ma.
2001 The Drawing Project, James Hull, curator, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, Ma.
2000 DeCordova Downtown, Art that Means Business, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, Ma.
2000 Boston Open Studios Coalition, Registry of Deeds, Boston, Ma.
2000 64th Annual Midyear Exhibition, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.
2000 11th Annual National Exhibition, Viridian Gallery, NYE, Charlotta Kotik, juror, Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.
2000 The Art Connection-Making Connections, Boston Cultural Council, Boston City Hall, Boston, Ma.
1999 Cindy Bordeau Fine Arts,Chicago, Ill.
1996 Between the Muse Gallery, Rockland, Me.( three person show)
1996 San Diego Art Institute 41st Annual International, Peter Frank, juror, San Diego, Ca.
1994 Women’s Caucus of Art, Deborah Muirhead, juror, Grossman Gallery, Boston, Ma.
1994 Rutgers National ‘94 Works on Paper, Faith Ringold and Elizabeth Sussman, jurors, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers, Camden, NJ.
1993 Anything But Paper Prayers, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Tom Grabosky, curator, Boston, Ma.
1993 South End Connects II, Camilia Genovese and David Sullivan, jurors, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Ma.
1992 New England/New Talent, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Ma.
1992 Positive/Negative, Gael Stack, juror, Slocumb Galleries, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tn.
1992 New Art ‘92, Robert Evans,juror(director of Danforth Museum) Kingston Gallery, Boston, Ma.
1992 National Art Competition, Thomas Lawson, juror (Dean of Art, California Institute of the Arts, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, Mo.
1989 21st W&J National Painting Show, Allan D’Arcangelo, juror, Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pa.
1989 Galex 23, National Juried Competition, William Struve, juror, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, Ill.
1986 4th Annual Prize Competition, Will Barnet, juror, Provincetown Art Association, Provincetown, Ma.
1983 15 W&J National Painting Show, Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa.1983 Galex 17, Annual Competitive Exhibition, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, Ill.
1983 60 Boston Artists, City Hall, Boston,Ma.
1982 Allied Artists of America, National Arts Club, New York, N. Y.
1981 “Still-Life”. Boston Visual Artists Union, Boston,Ma.
1981 “Contemporary Women Artists”, Grove Street Gallery,Worcester, Ma.
1979 First Drawing Annual, Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Ma.
1978 Traveling Fellowship Competition, School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ma.
PUBLICATIONS
Studio Visit, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA Volume 20, 2013, Jonathan Greene, juror
Studio Visit, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA Volume 6, 2009,
Studio Visit, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA Volume 4, 2008, Carl Belz, juror
SELECTED COLLECTIONS (OVER 50)
Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Holyoke, MA
Northeast Allergy, Leominster, MA
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Loomis Sayles & Company, Boston, MA
Riverstone Resources, Manchester, VT
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, VT
Victory House, Boston, MA
CrossHarbor Capital Partners, CA
Nutter McClennen & Fish, Boston, MA
Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
New England OB-GYN-Brookline, MA
PGA National Resort & Spa, W. Palm Beach, FL
Merrill Lynch, Boston, MA
Park Hyatt Resort, Beaver Creek, CO
Analysis Group, NYC, NY
4006 Ventures, Boston, MA
Bromberg & Sunstein LLP
Wainwright Investment Counsel, Boston, MA
Boston Private Bank, Boston, MA
Nelson, Kinder, Mosseau, & Saturley, Boston, MA
The Westin, Boston, MA
Convexity Capitol Management, Boston, MA
Moody, Famiglietti, & Andronico, LLP, Tewksbury, MA
The Waverly Restaurant, Atlanta, GA
National Book Network, Lanham, MD
Bank of America, Boston, Ma.
TIAX, Cambridge, Ma.
Top of the Hub, Boston, Ma.
Acadian Asset Management, Boston, Ma.
Griffith Properties,Boston, Ma
ValueAct Capital, Boston, Ma.
Capital G, Hamilton, Bermuda
Cypress Lofts, Brookline, Ma.
Starwood Hotels
Overland Capital, Boston, Ma.
Ernst & Young, Boston, MA
Straumann USA, Inc., Andover , MA
Atelier 505, Boston, MA
Boston Properties, Boston, MA
Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Boston, MA
Monaco Hotel, Washington, DC
Adam & Co., London, England
Massachusetts Financial Services, Boston, MA
Federal Reserve Bank, Boston, MA
Hill and Barlow, Boston, MA
Nancy and Bill Osgood, Vermont
Harvard Common Press, Boston, MA
Private Chef Services, Boston, MA
William Pierce III, Boston, MA
New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA
Anderson, Adler, Cohen and Harvey, Boston, MA
Bingham, Dana and Gould, Boston, MA
Charlesbank Capital Partners
Goodwin Procter and Hoar, Boston, MA
H. C. Wainwright, Boston, MA
A. M. Kearney, Chicago, ILL and NY
McGrath House, Boston, MA
Rosalind Gorin, Boston, MA
Dana Farber Hospital, Boston, MA
Irving Rabb, Cambridge, MA
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
Leggatt McCall Properties, Boston, MA
Hale and Dorr, Boston, MA
Wellesley Design Consultants, Wellesley, MA
Lasalle Partners, Chicago, Ill
Clark and Elbing, Boston, MA
Burns and Levinson, Boston, MA
Unico, Auburndale, MA
180 Beacon Street Trust, Boston, MA
Forest City Commercial Group, Cambridge, MA
H.C. Wainwright, Boston, MA
Conn, Kavanaugh, Rosenthal, Peisch & Ford, Boston, MA
State Street Bank & Trust Co. Boston, MA
AWARDS
2017 Honorable Mention, Making Your Mark, Providence Arts Club National Juried Exhibition, Kathryn Wat, juror, of the National Museum of Women in the Arts
2000 Honorable Mention, Abstraction for a New Millennium, Anne Ellegood, curator at the New Museum for Contemporary Art, Stage Gallery, Merrick, NY
1991 Semi-Finalist, New Artists, Gloria Wilcher Memorial Exhibition, Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH
1986 Honorable Mention, 4th Annual Exhibition, Woodstock School of Art, Woodstock, NY
1986 3rd Prize, Annual Competition, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA
1983 Juror’s Choice, (Sondra Freckelton), W & J National Painting Show, Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, PA
REVIEWS and ARTICLES
2016 Art New England, Sept/Oct, Preview, Shape Shifting and Radiant Chroma, McGowan Fine Art, Concord, NH, by David Raymond
2016 Maine Home and Design, The Canvas, March Issue
2016 Maine Home and Design, The Art Collector Maine Issue page 44
2002-03 Art New England, Barbara O’Brien, Regional Review, Spotlight 9/11
1982 Review/Art by Robert Taylor:“Still-life, Boston Visual Artists Union Gallery, Boston Globe, MA “82
