I'd like to preface Michael Hanna's critical review of my work with a personal reflection. The artist's journey is often a solitary one that unfolds in the solitude of a studio. Even amidst a vibrant community of artists, collectors, and admirers, there's an inherent sense of isolation. It's a paradox, a paradox of connection and detachment creating in the silence.It's in this solitude that the true magic happens. It's where we grapple with our deepest fears, past trauma, hopes, and everything in between. It's where we find solace, where we find strength, and where we find our voice. But it's also a place of vulnerability, a place where we expose our raw unfiltered thoughts, and our unfinished dreams.In the midst of this complex landscape, a single review can sometimes hit a particularly vulnerable place. When such a review comes along, it's like a beacon of light in the darkness. It's a recognition of the solitary struggle, the countless hours spent alone, the sacrifices made, and the risks taken. It's a validation of the unique vision, a testament to the power of creativity, and a reminder that the journey, though often solitary, is not without understanding.I'm thrilled to announce that my work has been selected for Best in Show at the Aedra Fine Arts, Fortune Favors Exhibition. A hardcover catalogue of this exhibition will be published later this year. It's an incredible honor to be showcased alongside such talented artists. 26 artists from around the world were chosen for this exhibition, which you can view here: Fortune Favors Exhibition.Curator Michael Hanna's insightful review, included below has truly humbled me.
ARTIST SHILO RATNER CRITICAL REVIEW Shilo Ratner is a geometric painter who has exhibited throughout the United States and especially in Connecticut. She is represented by Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto, California, Candita Clay Gallery in New London, New Hampshire, Claire Carino Contemporary in Boston, Jen Tough Gallery in Santa Fe, MIKA Gallery in Tel Aviv , and GALLERyLabs in Buenos Aires and New Haven. Shilo’s paintings have been exhibited in several museums in the United States including most recently at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Marin, California, Mystic Museum of Art at the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, and the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art in Georgia. Notable publications include features in Studio Visit Magazine, Daily Nutmeg, and The Daily Connecticut. Sharp and with controlled compositions, Shilo’s paintings break down subject matter such as landscapes and architecture into angular triangular forms and fragments which piece together with one another. Containing high contrast of dark and bright colors, the paintings collectively portray a distorted world of optical illusions which stretches within upon the horizon line. Typically depicting cool mountainous peaks or resort homes, the works break down three-dimensionality into flatness through geometric proclivity. The sheer design value of such works offer a calm, crisp, and clean surface which polishes forms such as shadows and reflections in water into monochromatic shapes. Shilo’s paintings typically contain asymmetrical slants which rest upon the accentuated horizon line which contain bold pastel and bright tones. With stark division, the forms, much like a puzzle, appear fragmented in pieces yet holistically conjoined together through harmonic composition which rests upon the leveled planes. Sunrise Mountain (pictured above) remains one of Shilo’s most refreshing pieces in the sheer splendor of angular aesthetics. Containing subtle variations of blue which range from Prussian, cerulean, and turquoise, the jagged mountain spills onto the flat body of water with intricate shapes of reflections of highlights and shadows in the form of stretched triangles and rectangles of varying tones. The sunlight becomes portrayed through a minimalist approach of just three stripes of angular color in the low foreground as if to indicate the dew of dawn. Shilo Ratner can be described as a poetic painter who offers a cool, polished approach to distortions in painting through angular beauty and grace. Much like a ballet performance, the paintings delicately, and with great balance, mesmerize the audience through carefully crafted composure with intense focus on the horizon line and purification of light and shadow. Shilo builds upon contemporary painting principles through elongated perspectives which convey a sense of harmony and inner peace distracting from the confines of stress-inducing reality. She offers an escape into a realm which reinterprets physical existence with flares of diamond-shaped form, highlights, and shade.
