Stuart Snoddy: The Dither

Massey Klein Gallery is pleased to present The Dither, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Stuart Snoddy. The exhibition will be on view from October 28th through December 9th. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 28th from 4-7pm. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. For press inquiries or questions regarding works available, please email info@masseyklein.com.

The Dither presents a new collection of imaginative portraits. Brimming with joy, delight, and a palpable sense of action, this newest group of fantastical characters reflect Snoddy’s interest in perceptible aliveness. Inspired by the freedom of automatic drawing, each portrait is crafted with the conceptual understanding of light, shadow, and anatomy. The artist allows the unpredictable nature of abstraction to inform his drawings, which in turn inform the characters that appear on the canvases as he works. Using the alla prima painting technique, characterized by applying wet paint onto previous layers of still-wet paint, Snoddy intensifies and orchestrates the painting cycle within a closed loop while emphasizing the movements of the paintings’ automatic origins.

For this series, Snoddy found kinship in American sculptor Charles Ray’s embodiment of “pneuma.” Meaning breath, spirit or soul in Greek, both Ray and Snoddy infuse their work with a profound sense of transience and the movement of air. Both artists communicate an indisputable sense of life, and each new character that Snoddy creates aims to evoke the exhilarating feeling of animation's beginning or the exhale that follows - an animate in-between that gives life to stillness. First and foremost, Snoddy is searching for the breath to be present in his works.

Snoddy also draws inspiration from a dynamic and curious amalgamation of portraitists. John Singer Sargent has held a "permanent residence" in Snoddy’s mind for the past twenty-five years, while the influences of historical greats like Thomas Lawrence and Joseph DeCamp (along with other members of the Boston School) have contributed to the development of Snoddy’s style. Similar to the idiosyncratic characters that Snoddy brings to life, Snoddy’s style remains unparalleled, continuing to guide viewers on an exploratory journey into the complexity of self through imaginatively constructed fantasies.

Stuart Snoddy holds a BFA from the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis and an MFA from Northern Illinois University. He currently serves as an instructor in Foundations and Painting at the Herron School of Art and Design. In 2015, Snoddy was selected to participate in the Atlantic Center for the Arts Artist-in-Residence program in New Smyrna Beach, FL. 

Snoddy’s inaugural exhibition with Massey Klein Gallery, The Poet Aster, was on view from June 3rd - July 16th, 2022. Additionally, works by the artist were featured alongside gallery artists Courtney Childress and Peter Frederiksen at last year’s edition of Future Fair’s Annual Holiday Market, held from December 6th to 20th, 2022. Snoddy has exhibited across the United States, including group exhibitions at the Indianapolis Art Center (2017), the McLean County Art Center (2016), and the Harrison Center for the Arts (2016). More recently, his work was featured in a two-person exhibition with gallery artist Amy Applegate at Edington Gallery (here and there, 2023), and in solo exhibitions at the Farmer Family Gallery at the Ohio State University at Lima (The Fantasy Figures, 2019) and the Harrison Center for the Arts (Singsong, 2019). The artist and his paintings have garnered recognition in numerous print and online publications, including New American Paintings, Hi-Fructose and Booooooom. The artist currently lives and works in Indianapolis, IN.

Massey Klein Gallery is located at 124 Forsyth St. New York, NY 10002. Gallery hours are Thursday - Sunday 12pm-5pm. To schedule a private viewing, email info@masseyklein.com.