Ollie Balf, Founders Gallery at Montserrat
Now on display in the Founders Gallery at Montserrat College of Art, a few pieces by one of the founding faculty members: Oliver Balf. And inspired by the concurrent PEM exhibition of work by Hans Hofmann, who Ollie Balf studied with in NYC before moving to Cape Ann in 1947, for its beauty and low cost lifestyle.
Watercolor became Balf’s favorite medium because, as he wrote, "Watercolor is full of surprises. Colors are always different when wet, and unpredictable when dry. Accidents are part of the process and you handle the accidents differently each time they occur, so you never know what the final result will be.” Although his paintings are more representative than Hofmann's, his bold brushstrokes energize the images into a plane approaching the abstract.
