Press Release

Sag Harbor, NY (October 12, 2019) – Keyes Art Gallery is pleased to present the first ever exhibition of recent paintings by American artist Ted Hartley. The exhibition will be on view from September 28th through October 12th, at Keyes Art Gallery located at 53 Main Street, at the American Hotel, in Sag Harbor, NY. The opening reception will take place on Saturday, September 28th, from 5 – 7 PM.

Hartley continues in the rich artistic tradition that lays claim to such painters as William Merritt Chase, Fairfield Porter, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, and many more. Using ink, charcoal, pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache, Hartley unleashes marks and touches of glowing color into receptacles of his own making. The artist George Negroponte writes in the exhibition catalogue that for Hartley “making art is a call to action regardless the predicament of any given day: necessity pokes hard.”

Ted Hartley was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised on a farm in Iowa. At the age of fourteen he entered a writing contest sponsored by Warner Brothers with a short essay titled "Why I Want to Fly”. He won flying lessons and was airborne almost immediately. Much like the rest of his life, once Hartley had his sights set on a goal, he would not rest until he achieved or mastered it. Following suit, he began to paint.

Ted Hartley started making art about a decade ago for his wife when she was gravely ill; a group of his friends gathered each week at their home in East Hampton with the intent of providing them company, distraction, and a purposeful occasion. After her passing, Hartley’s art classes went far beyond their original reason. Today art making is central to his life. Hartley’s embrace of painting comes naturally as he merged years of poetry, narrative, and larger-than-life experiences into his new medium. On view are a series of abstract works that reveal his urgent dedication to painting.

Hartley currently lives and works in New York City and East Hampton, NY.

This will be Ted Hartley’s first exhibition with Keyes Art Gallery and will run through October 12th. For more information, please contact Keyes Art Gallery at info@juliekeyesart.com or by phone at 631-808-3588.