Painter AD Tinkham Underway as Upcoming Featured Artist at SALT Gallery: Exhibit Preview on May 7th

“I love the sensation of floating,” says AD Tinkham, whose new exhibition “A Sailing Life” will be revealed in a special preview on Saturday, May 7th from 6pm–8pm at SALT Gallery at SALT Island Provisions on 830 Fleming Street.

Not coincidentally, Tinkham is a lifelong sailor and builder of boats, with a minimal to near-abstraction painting style characterized by his interest in boats and weather, especially stormy weather and that moment of calm just before the storm prevails.

“My theme is always atmosphere of the marine environment,” says the painter who has made Key West his home base since 1992 after many sailing trips to the island.  “I look at atmospheric conditions and try to figure out how to make them come alive on canvas.”

The exhibit will feature Tinkham’s new oil paintings, showcasing the fluency of his marine landscapes that often emphasize a contradiction between serenity and danger in a way that is moving, accessible, and intelligent. The overarching theme of his work is governed by change—  of the coastal climate, of light, and of tides, which Tinkham executes with the mastery of logic— believable light patterns, a pattern of focus, depth and glow—coupled with a surreal and visceral sensation that allows the viewer to fully enter the painting.

“AD immerses himself into the saltwater environment whether it be the glory of first light on the ocean or the violence of a summer squall,” says SALT Gallery owner Jeffrey Cardenas, who first became introduced to Tinkham’s work 25 years ago during a collaboration that paid tribute to the Marquesas, resulting in what is now a collectable book entitled Marquesa: A Time & a Place With Fish.

“Not content to be just an observer of the maritime landscape, AD becomes a part of it, a living and breathing entity amid the sea and the sky, and this is what brings his paintings to life,” Cardenas said.

Tinkham has painted since childhood, with his early years spent in a small town on Buzzard’s Bay, Massachussetts, where his “love for boats and stormy weather began to ferment,” he says.  He won the Pomerantz Painting Prize in 1967, graduated from the Swain School of Design in 1969, and earned his MFA from Brooklyn College in 1971. Since then, he has painted with much acclaim, having exhibited in several group and one-man shows in New York, New England, and South Florida.  During his time in New York City, he became interested in Japanese wood cuts, or “Ukiyo,” which translates to “floating world.”  His interest in islands continue to develop and help him define the horizon and the ground plane in much of his work, including the work in his current exhibit “A Sailing Life.”

Tinkham’s work will remain on display throughout May until June 6th at SALT Gallery, which features a new artist every month.  For more information, call 305.896.2980 or visit ADTinkham.com.

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