Bender Gallery is pleased to present Short Stories, the first solo exhibition at Bender Gallery for artist Linda Gritta.  Expressive, fresh paintings varying in size up to 60 x 60 inches will be on display.  Gritta’s work encourages the viewer to visit an alternate reality, to recall a real or imagined memory, as images flit in and out of actuality on the canvas.  The exhibition runs from Saturday, April 6 through April 30, 2024.  The artist will be present for an opening reception on April 6 from 5-8 PM.

Short Stories will delve into the layers of exploring a narrative through abstraction.  Gritta uses primarily oil paint, due to its complexity and ability to create nuanced colors, but is fond of starting with acrylic, loosely blocking in shapes, and finding a composition through the exploration of color.  Then she begins to build layer upon layer with oil paint, oil sticks, and sometimes goes back in with graphite pencil to correct or adjust certain shapes.  The artist is always aware of balance in a piece and how there can be a dialog amongst the elements depending on the way they are laid out on the canvas.  While some of Gritta’s paintings are purely abstract, most of them reference a landscape, a part of a building, or an object.  Gritta unapologetically shifts between abstraction, to landscapes, to figuration based on her inspirations and in response to the paint.  In some cases, it could be as simple as the color palette of her garden and the desire to immerse herself in all the hues she sees outside her studio window.

“I want color to teach me in real time.  Paint is forgiving, I can keep changing it.  I have to pay attention and learn what happens when I do this,” motions to the canvas, “and make this big color here.  I want to learn as I’m going because each painting teaches me so much.” -Linda Gritta

Some of these new works are inspired by childhood memories.  For instance, the painting, Horse Tale, explores a story when the artist first felt shame as a young child consumed with a love of horses.  The blue sky, green meadow, and ambiguous mark-making can elicit a fragment of a memory for most viewers.  Another piece shows a young Gritta, albeit abstracted, performing a handstand, something she can no longer do.  This painting mourns the loss of childhood, while celebrating the energy of youth.

Linda Gritta was born in 1956 in Chicago, IL, and grew up in a suburb called Riverdale.  In the early 2000s, while working as a translator for deaf people, she received her BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Converse School of the Arts in Spartanburg, SC.  She has lived in many different states but ultimately settled in Asheville, NC in 2005.  Her website is www.lindagritta.com and she can be followed on Instagram @linda_gritta.