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Two prints with a black background and blobs of white with tiny rectangular dots throughout like skyscraper windows at night from far away.
April 14 – July 28, 2019

Lois Tarlow
Material Vocabulary

Lois Tarlow has been part of the fabric of art in New England for nearly seven decades. This exhibition highlights themes and techniques that have defined the artist’s practice from the 1950s to today.

Lois Tarlow’s “material vocabulary,” a varied and exquisite use of materials across media, is the thread that unites her rich body of work, and her choice of media reflect specific and significant life moments. Lois’s works have always been about layers—physical and psychological, what hides in the dark, what lies beneath, and ultimately what comes to the surface. This artistic intensity, still present as the artist celebrated her 90th birthday, is explored in paintings, drawings, prints, and mixed media works.

Gallery: Gallery 217 and the Weinberg Family Gallery
Dates: April 14 – July 28, 2019
Participating artists: Lois Tarlow
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White and grey drawing with many black squiggles going upwards, like thin charred trees on a scorched landscape.
Lois Tarlow, Aftermath #1 , 1996, Mixed media on paper
Two prints with a black background and blobs of white with tiny rectangular dots throughout like skyscraper windows at night from far away.
Lois Tarlow, City Lights (#1 and #2) , 2012–2015, Charcoal on braille paper
Sketched colored scene with a wide tan street and a myriad of people on bicycles going every which way, some carrying large loads or transporting people.
Lois Tarlow, Early Morning, Hanoi , 1994, Pastel on paper
Baby in red had wrapped in a peach blanket in front of a white-blue background
Lois Tarlow, Eli in an Orange Hat , 1956, Oil on canvas
Simple painting with flat deep blue water and four tanned people wading in.
Lois Tarlow, The Bathers , 1968, Oil on canvas
Blue background with a crawfish being eaten by a jellyfish being eaten by a sea turtle.
Lois Tarlow, The Food Chain , 1986, Pastel
Five strips of white paper, hanging, with drips of light blue, grey, and white paint. Geometric shapes are pasted across the middle of the papers.
Lois Tarlow, Meltdown , 2017, Ink and foam packing on handmade paper
Deep grey background with grouping of vertical lines roughly arrowed in shape and with red eyes and open beaks along the right upper side.
Lois Tarlow, Night Flight of the Red Eyed Birds , 1990 c., Pastel on metallic paper
Abstract print made with horizontal lines in odd shapes for the background and vertical mushroom like shapes scattered about with dots of rainbow colors.
Lois Tarlow, Secret Garden , 2012, Black rice paper, Duralar film, acrylic ink, colored paper
Drawing of a person in a collard jacket from chest up, with placid facial expression and short, wild hair going in all directions. Two birds are nesting in the figure's hair, one depicted just jumping out of the nest of hair.
Lois Tarlow, Self-Portrait as a Bird’s Nest , 1975, Charcoal
Painted Portrait of a woman with long brown wavy hair in a colorful quilt jacket holding a paintbrush
Lois Tarlow, Self-Portrait in a Persian Jacket , 1954, Oil on canvas
Painting of a woman with long brown hair, pale skin, wearing a red sweater. She is seated at a table with a light pink table cloth with scatterings of florals and fruit. She is mirrored three times from slightly different angles. There are plants in the background with a beige wall.
Lois Tarlow, Self-Portrait in a Three-Way Mirror , 1953, Oil on casein
White and grey drawing with many black squiggles going upwards, like thin charred trees on a scorched landscape.
Lois Tarlow
Aftermath #1 , 1996, Mixed media on paper

Donated by the Fuller Craft Museum. Original Gift of Dr. Arthur A. and Alice G. Sasahara

Two prints with a black background and blobs of white with tiny rectangular dots throughout like skyscraper windows at night from far away.
Lois Tarlow
City Lights (#1 and #2) , 2012–2015, Charcoal on braille paper

On loan from the Collection of the Artist

Sketched colored scene with a wide tan street and a myriad of people on bicycles going every which way, some carrying large loads or transporting people.
Lois Tarlow
Early Morning, Hanoi , 1994, Pastel on paper

26” x 40”
On loan from the Collection of the Artist

Baby in red had wrapped in a peach blanket in front of a white-blue background
Lois Tarlow
Eli in an Orange Hat , 1956, Oil on canvas

Collection of the Artist

Simple painting with flat deep blue water and four tanned people wading in.
Lois Tarlow
The Bathers , 1968, Oil on canvas

Collection of Gabriel Polonsky

Blue background with a crawfish being eaten by a jellyfish being eaten by a sea turtle.
Lois Tarlow
The Food Chain , 1986, Pastel

Collection of the Artist

Five strips of white paper, hanging, with drips of light blue, grey, and white paint. Geometric shapes are pasted across the middle of the papers.
Lois Tarlow
Meltdown , 2017, Ink and foam packing on handmade paper

Collection of the Artist

Deep grey background with grouping of vertical lines roughly arrowed in shape and with red eyes and open beaks along the right upper side.
Lois Tarlow
Night Flight of the Red Eyed Birds , 1990 c., Pastel on metallic paper

Collection of the Artist

Abstract print made with horizontal lines in odd shapes for the background and vertical mushroom like shapes scattered about with dots of rainbow colors.
Lois Tarlow
Secret Garden , 2012, Black rice paper, Duralar film, acrylic ink, colored paper

On loan from the Collection of Wendy Tarlow Kaplan and Martin Kaplan

Drawing of a person in a collard jacket from chest up, with placid facial expression and short, wild hair going in all directions. Two birds are nesting in the figure's hair, one depicted just jumping out of the nest of hair.
Lois Tarlow
Self-Portrait as a Bird’s Nest , 1975, Charcoal

Collection of the Artist

Painted Portrait of a woman with long brown wavy hair in a colorful quilt jacket holding a paintbrush
Lois Tarlow
Self-Portrait in a Persian Jacket , 1954, Oil on canvas

Gift of Ellen Wineberg, 2015.3

Painting of a woman with long brown hair, pale skin, wearing a red sweater. She is seated at a table with a light pink table cloth with scatterings of florals and fruit. She is mirrored three times from slightly different angles. There are plants in the background with a beige wall.
Lois Tarlow
Self-Portrait in a Three-Way Mirror , 1953, Oil on casein

Collection of the Artist

“As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be an artist. From age 4, I would spend many whole days drawing at the desk in the office of my father's sole leather factory. Lois Tarlow, Artist —Plan Your Visit
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