St. Supéry’s art gallery is located on the second floor of the winery. Open daily, visitors are encouraged to view the exhibitions which change throughout the year.
Showcasing the paintings of Stephen Coyle
The continuing series by the Pawtucket-based artist of brightly sun-filled beach scenes arose from his observation of the “zoo-like” environment at the shore. As the artist states, “The way we observe animals at the zoo is akin to the way we observe one another at the beach. . . . These paintings are an examination of humanity as we walk, crawl, run, crouch and lie upon the earth.” Through his choice of colors and an almost whiting out of the setting, the heat and light of the beaches are palpable, evoking the feel of a summer day with high sun and hot temperatures on an Atlantic shore.
The urban scenes inspired by visits to New York and Los Angeles, where his daughter attends the University of Southern California, underscore Coyle’s interest in the pattern and movement of people in a particular space or context. Each figure is distinct with its own rhythm within the compositions.
Utilizing rollers, large brushes, trowels, nails, and sand paper to apply alkyd, a form of oil paint, to canvas or panel, Coyle skillfully captures the atmosphere at the beach. Though representational in nature, Coyle’s use of abstraction in forms and brushwork – especially in allowing more undefined figures – lends to the fleeting and ethereal feel of the paintings. Though inspired by locales known to the painter, they are intended as generalized places, the idea of a beach or city street or public space familiar to all.
Coyle studied at the Otis Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles. He is well-established and exhibited in the East Coast, with an emphasis on the Boston area.