ArtZone 461 Gallery is pleased to announce a solo show in the main space for Nicholas Coley’s recent and new plein air paintings titled Changes In The Landscape.  Coley’s series is comprised mainly of images from San Francisco’s former army post, the Presidio and its northern neighbor, Marin County.  Both places are connected by and are anchors for the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The series may be seen as a metaphor for the artists’ life; he’s lived most of it in San Francisco and Marin, making them anchors in his life.  This familiarity affords Coley variety rather than formula, he sees, feels and understands these places.  He observes subtle changes that are the passages he captures in his paintings. 

Another metaphor in his life is that he’s able to see anew because he’s raising an infant son.  Infants demand attention and in observing their growth and development, parents look for and notice changes.  The artist, looking for dynamics in the landscape, finds what he seeks inspired by observing and interacting with his son, making possible fresh and vibrant new perspectives.

This show features landscapes and not any urban scenes.  Many reflect a departure from Coley’s Cezanne-like palette that developed from his schooling in France that emphasized such painting.  Here we see new, confident, colors and compositions, a rebalancing of perspectives and lively changes in the landscape.

In addition to training abroad, Coley received his BFA in painting from Evergreen College in Washington State.  He’s been living in San Francisco since 1999 and now with his wife and new son.