This is a very auspicious year on Cape Cod for art lovers.
Not only is the wonderful Norman Rockwell exhibition, “Norman Rockwell: Beyond The Easel”, vacationing in Sandwich at The Heritage Museum & Gardens for the summer, but we also have the “Tides of Provincetown” exhibition, showcasing the legendary Provincetown School of Art from Charles Hawthorne in 1899 via Hans Hofmann to the present day, showing throughout the summer at The Cape Cod Museum of Art.
But that is not all!
When I first heard that another art gallery was to open on Cape Cod my first reaction was one of indifference. Although the art galleries of P-Town & Wellfleet are invariably excellent, the rest of the Cape suffers from a surfeit of uninspiring art galleries flogging over-priced art to sun-bestricken vacationers; we didn’t need another one.
My indifference was misplaced and soon re-placed with great expectation on discovering the art gallery in question would be owned and run by celebrated local artist Hans de Castellane, who has returned to his Cape Cod roots and relocated his New York gallery to Dennisport, Cape Cod. Hans de Castellane grew up on Cape Cod and has owned and operated his own mural business here for over ten years, with 137 murals to his credit. Hans opened a New York gallery and succeeded there in providing a highly respected location for a broad range of original and exciting artists be it painters, sculptors or photographers.
The new Dennisport gallery (which, as luck would have it is only a 5 minute stroll from our Cape Cod Inn, The Platinum Pebble!) opened on 9th June to a large turn-out of inquisitive locals, art lovers and press eager to welcome Hans back and to see the striking exhibition of works on display by the innovative abstract artist Ted Dimond. It is rare that Cape Cod gets to play host to such a cutting-edge exhibition and artist as Ted Dimond and his AZURE collection, so for Hans to be able to launch his new gallery with this exhibition bodes extremely well for its future.
Ted Dimond has developed a unique art technique called “lensing” that involves layers of oils on canvas interspersed with layers of stretched polymer over the paint. This novel art method allows the paint to be caught in different stages of drying adding a depth, vitality and evolution of colors that is mesmerizing and represents a unique point in time. I thoroughly recommend catching the AZURE exhibition before it moves on.
Hans also is showing his own work including a number of his idiosyncratic Cape Cod paintings. He has also been commissioned by the Dennisport Revitalization Committee to paint a mural in Dennisport village, close to his gallery, of an old Dennisport Schooner. He will complete the mural this summer with the assistance of local Harwich & Dennis students. Later this year Hans will present works by Russian artist Alex Yudzon.
If you want to see cutting edge art in an unpretentious gallery with one of Cape Cod’s rising stars, then make a trip to Dennisport and stop by the de Castellane gallery.