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thick, hazy, cleer, blew
Solo Exhibition by Shona Macdonald
at Real Art Ways
On View: Thursday, June 19 – Sunday, August 24, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 17, 6 PM
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"The Vapors so Whiten 8"
Coloured pencil on toned paper mounted on birch plywood. 9" x 11"
2025
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HARTFORD, CONN. Real Art Ways will open a solo exhibition by
artist Shona Macdonald on Thursday, July 17, at 6:00 pm, during CCH (Creative Cocktail Hour). The exhibition, titled "thick, hazy, cleer, blew" investigates the effects of weather as both ephemeral and routine markers of daily life. Gallery hours are every day from 1:00-9:00 pm. Admission is free. Real Art Ways is at 56 Arbor Street, Hartford, Connecticut.
Through three bodies of work: "The Vapors so Whiten," "Car, Eyes," and "Blow In," Macdonald explores themes of atmosphere, visibility, and direction. Her hand-rendered drawings and muted palette conjure a sensation of temporal suspension, where narrative dissolves into climate and environment.
"The Vapors so Whiten," series pulls imagery out of layers of dusty pigment applied to toned paper, small in scale and depicting cars moving through ambiguous weather conditions, drifting into or out of visibility, devoid of context or destination.
"Car, Eyes" presents vehicles adrift in indistinct bodies of water, disengaged from their function and orientation; they are rendered useless.
In "Blow In," wind takes the stage, animating flags, laundry, and leaves into dynamic studies of motion and change.
Macdonald's work offers a contemplative, disorienting view of atmosphere, both external and internal. Her meticulous, layered approach invites viewers to reflect on how weather shapes not just the landscape, but perception, memory, and imagination.
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Shona Macdonald was born in Scotland and currently lives in Western Massachusetts.
Solo exhibitions include McDonough Museum of Art, (2023), Zillman Art Museum, (2020-21), Brattleboro Art Center and Museum (2018), Roswell Art Museum, (2011), Tarble Arts Center (2015), Gridspace, (2014) Engine Room, Wellington, New Zealand, (2010), Proof Gallery, Boston, MA (2009), Reeves Contemporary, NY, NY (2008), Den Contemporary, LA, CA, (2007) and Galerie Refugium, Berlin, Germany, (2002.) Two person exhibitions include the Ballina Art Center, Ireland (2022), Dayton Art Center (2018,) and Linden Sculpture Garden (2012.)
Macdonald has shown in over 100 group exhibitions across the United States, UK, Australia, and Canada. Reviews of her work include Art in America, Art News, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Sacramento Bee, and Boston Globe.
She has been an invited Visiting Artist at over fifty institutions, including The University of Wyoming (2023), Georgia State University (2007), the University of Alberta, and the University of Calgary, Canada, (both 2002).
Macdonald is a 2009 recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award. Artist residencies include UCross, Ragdale, VCCA, Roswell, Kimmel Harding Nelson, and internationally, at Can Serrat, Spain, Ballinglen, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre - both in Ireland.
| | Real Art Ways is a multidisciplinary arts organization with programs in visual and live arts, cinema, and education. It began in the fall of 1975 when a group of artists set up a live-work space in downtown Hartford. The organization has grown into one of the country’s best-respected contemporary art spaces, with support for artists and connections with the community as core values. Real Art Ways is notable for the excellence of its presentations. For example, Real Art Ways has presented 48 MacArthur “Genius” grantees (including 24 who are artists of color), more than any other arts organization in the United States. Real Art Ways embarked on a new chapter by purchasing 56 Arbor Street and is planning an expansion to launch in the spring of 2025. | | | | |
