Admission to the BRIT building is free for all. Admission to The Garden is always free for members; non-members may purchase tickets here.
Twenty-twenty was a year of tumult, isolation, and upheaval. The instability which pushed us away from each other also serendipitously pushed many of us back into the arms of humanity’s great muse and long-time comfort: the natural world. Artists, in particular, have always sought inspiration and solace in the natural world, but in the unprecedented isolation of a global pandemic, the physical acts of painting and spending time in nature have become vital coping strategies. Staring uncertainty and bubbling social tension in the face, what was once a deep aesthetic appreciation has become an imperative, existential reminder: we are all, together, of the land.
Coming together as artists, Camille Warmington and Brenda Ciardiello share their visual meditations on finding renewal in nature in this exhibition titled Of the Land: Two Artists Find Renewal in Nature. Both artists create immersive natural scenes exploring personal connections to nature using original photographs they take while traveling. One working in acrylic, the other in watercolor, the two artists conjure scenes that evoke hope, comfort, memory while exploring the autographic marks that place makes on a person. These contemporary - almost surreal - botanical scenes are simultaneously striking and meditative; using perspective and abstraction, they ask questions about humans' role in nature, and how we can work to better coexist with ourselves and other species.
The opening of this exhibition will be celebrated during Spring Gallery Night, Saturday, March 27 (3 - 7 pm). Artist Brenda Ciardiello will be available to visit and talk with small groups about her work. Along with reduced gallery capacity, social distancing and masks are required.
Click More Info (below) for Exhibition Preview:
About the Artists:
Brenda Ciardiello is a Mexican-American artist and poet who paints contemporary landscapes, botanicals, and abstract art that deal with themes of personal connection to nature, as inspired by her travels. Almost all of her work focuses on using the unpredictable nature of water to depict the unique interplay of color, light and texture in otherwise fleeting elements: water, clouds, and flora. Brenda is heavily influenced by her bicultural and international experience of the world. Born in Mexico City but raised in Texas, she has also lived / studied in Mexico, Italy, the U.K., New York City, New England, the Rocky Mountains and the Middle East and, as part of her process, travels whenever possible to capture original source imagery for her work. Brenda currently lives and works in Fort Worth, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Classical Civilizations from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a Master of Science in Education from The City College of New York. She is a 2021 Carter Community Artist with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth. Her work can be found at her website.
Camille Warmington is a painter whose work reflects on artifacts and their connection to memory and mortality, place and presence. She studied painting at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and earned a Bachelor of Interior Architecture from Kansas State University. Her paintings have appeared in national, regional, and local juried exhibitions, been featured in New American Paintings, and received a Hunting Prize nomination. A mother of three, Warmington was born in Massachusetts, grew-up in Dallas, and lives and works in Houston, Texas. Her work can be found at her website.
FWBG | BRIT presents a variety of venues across our campus in which to enjoy art related to, and in, nature.
The BRIT building offers two distinctive art viewing spaces in the BRIT building: the elegant Madeline R. Samples Exhibit Hall and the smaller, more intimate Upper Atrium Collections Gallery. The Samples Exhibit Hall showcases botanical art and artwork dealing with topics such as ecology, plants, sustainability, conservation, and the natural world – we highlight work by local and national artists, both well-known and emerging. The Upper Atrium Collections Gallery features a rotation of botanical and nature-based prints from our Library collection, including The Arader Natural History Collection of Art. We honor and celebrate the traditional roots of botanical art, while also expanding and redefining the field for the 21st century.
Art can also be enjoyed throughout The Garden, with permanent outdoor sculpture installed along our many groves, paths, and clearings. We occasionally welcome contemporary sculptors to install large-scale artworks in our gardens for visitors to enjoy and reflect upon.
