Smile #1, 2021
Acrylic on wood 12x12in
Rebecca Doughty
The characters I paint or draw or sculpt in my studio are my companions, confidants, clowns, heroes. Together we navigate life’s comedies and tragedies. My work most often features a cast of animal characters in a range of human predicaments. For this most recent exhibition I’ve combined two bodies of work that take a slightly different turn: the Smile paintings may be smiles of the past or future, or of the departed, moments of happiness salvaged, ghosts of happiness haunting a fragmenting world. The Sticks, friendly in spite of their anatomical challenges, honor a long tradition of folk and visionary artists who transform these readily available natural materials into worlds of their own. I’m interested in the notions of “high” and “low” art, and perhaps my work exists in some odd territory— very much rooted in traditions of painting and drawing, and at the same time poking fun at these traditions.
“All the untidy activity continues, awful but cheerful.” —Elizabeth Bishop
Rebecca Doughty was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and has lived and worked in the Boston area for most of her life. Her artwork has been exhibited at The Drawing Center in New York, The Boston Drawing Project, DeCordova Museum, Rose Art Museum, Trustman Art Gallery, The Courthouse Gallery in Co. Mayo, Ireland, The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown, MA, Pulp in Holyoke, MA, and others. For her work she has received fellowships and awards from The Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ucross Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, The A.R.T Fund, and the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) New England. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, The Ballinglen Museum of Contemporary Art, Simmons College, Fidelity Investments and others, as well as many private collections internationally. Rebecca lives with her husband, poet Edison Dupree in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and works at Miller Street Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts.
