Paintings of Saco, Newburgh Artists on Display Through July 19 at University of Maine

Exhibitions in the University of Maine Lord Hall Gallery through July 19 showcase the works of two Maine painters — one a well-known artist, the other a recent UMaine graduate.

“Paintings” by Frederick Lynch of Saco features the largest collection of his largest canvases. “Momentary” by Jadrien Cousens of Newburgh includes landscape studies.

The exhibitions are free and open to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information or to request disability accommodations, call the Department of Art, 207.581.3245.

“We have a magnificent set of painting exhibitions up now by two great painters: One is one of Maine’s most prolific and engaging senior painters, and the other is by a newly minted UMaine graduate,” says UMaine Professor of Art James Linehan. “Jadrien’s works are small, very painterly views of the campus, mostly in grey weather. Fred’s paintings are huge geometric abstractions, so the works could not be more different. But the two artists share a passion for oil on canvas, and are both rigorous and exacting craftsmen.”

According to his artist statement, Lynch says he “applies a system of repeated geometries and mathematical divisions to create his art.” He strives to “evoke the type of order and chaos found in patterns of nature — branching of trees, veining of leaves and molecular systems.”

Lynch says he often “begins a work by drawing a 120-degree line, and then continues to further divide the picture plane into hundreds of increasingly smaller shapes, each layered with variations in color, line and scale.” In recent work, Lynch “has isolated these painted geometries into individual units or segments … The shapes are then magnified in drawings, gouaches and wooden constructions.”

In Cousens’ statement for this, his debut solo show, he notes that he works in both traditional and digital mediums, exploring simple, everyday moments and certain familiar qualities, such as “the sense of light, an individual’s posture or the juxtaposition between what moves and what stays still.” Cousens says he looks for “everyday occurrences” to capture in his art, finding these moments “compelling, relatable and often overlooked.” Cousens is pursuing a career as a digital matte painter and concept artist in the film industry.