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Shona Macdonald exhibition reception set for July 17 at Real Art Ways
thick, hazy, cleer, blew
Real Art Ways • 56 Arbor St, Hartford, CT 06106
On View: Thursday, June 19 – Sunday, August 24, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 17, 6 PM
thick, hazy, cleer, blew
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 St, 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.
Shona Macdonald
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.
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