Newburyport Art is very excited to present a celebratory featured artist show — Ron Emmerling: A Retrospective. Organized by his wife and family, the gallery is honored to host over 50 of Ron’s breathtaking and inspirational works of art. Paintings and sculptures fill the NAA Hills Gallery, along with dozens of prints, photographs, and drawings. As a retrospective of his life’s work, this exhibition collection features some of his early career art & design work beside his later life paintings.
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Ron Emmerling was an artist his entire life, though he only began painting in 2013. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a degree in Industrial Design. For more than three decades he owned a consultant design business in New Jersey. During that time he was fortunate to receive more than one hundred awards for design projects and Black and White photography. He also produced sculpture, pen and ink drawings, and paper collage.
In 2010 he suffered a devastating stroke, lost the use of his dominant right hand and arm, and was confined to a wheelchair. Feeling frustrated with his inability to walk, eat or work, he began to paint. Ron’s vision of the world was geometric and heavily influenced by his graphic arts and industrial design background. There is a close relationship between fine art and design. Though his paintings are generally not realistic, they are his version of recognizable objects. He rarely made sketches on the canvas and if he did they were very rudimentary. He said, “When I begin I have a visual impression of what I want to do, but when the paint hits the canvas that can change drastically.” His images are frequently architectural or taken from nature with an emphasis on exaggerated form and bright color. Sometimes the images were a response to current news items, memories of growing up at the Jersey Shore, or the work of artists that he admired, such as Lichtenstein or Katz.
Finding a new form of artistic expression gave him a reason to live every day. His mind was constantly occupied with new ideas and how he could implement them. The response to his work gave him hope. He wanted others to see that life can be joyful, colorful and rewarding despite adversity.
There will be a reception on Saturday, September 9th, from 5-7 p.m., free and open to the public with refreshments provided!
