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A painting by Ted Hartley.
About a decade ago, Ted Hartley started making art for his wife who was gravely ill. A group of friends gathered each week at the couple’s East Hampton home with the intent to provide company, distraction, and a purposeful occasion. But after her passing, Hartley’s art therapy sessions went far beyond their original purpose. Today, art making is central to his life.
On Saturday, September 28, Keyes Art Gallery in Sag Harbor opens the first ever exhibition of recent paintings by Hartley with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Hartley continues in the rich artistic tradition that lays claim to painters like William Merritt Chase, Fairfield Porter, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, and many others. Using ink, charcoal, pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache, Hartley, who lives in New York City and East Hampton, unleashes marks and touches of glowing color into receptacles of his own making.
Ted Hartley was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised on a farm in Iowa. At the age of 14 he entered a writing contest sponsored by Warner Brothers with a short essay titled “Why I Like to Fly.” He won flying lessons and was airborne almost immediately. Much like the rest of his life, once Hartley had his sights set on a goal, he would not rest until he achieved or mastered it.
Hartley’s embrace of painting comes naturally as he merged years of poetry, narrative, and larger-than-life experiences into his new medium. On view at the gallery will be a series of abstract works that reveal his urgent dedication to painting.
The exhibition will be on view through October 12 at Keyes Art Gallery, located at 53 Main Street, adjacent to The American Hotel in Sag Harbor. For more information, call 631-808-3588.
Staff Writer on Sep 20, 2019