Emily Pettigrew Too Pure for this World Exhibition

Emily Pettigrew

‘Too Pure for this World’

September 4,5,6,11,12 11 am - 5 pm, and by appointment 

Hunting Tavern Museum, 288 Main St, Andes, NY 13731 

A solo exhibition of paintings by artist Emily Pettigrew, funded by a grant from Delaware County Arts Grants, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by the Roxbury Arts Group. 

The show encompasses two groups of paintings: Pettigrew’s geometric ‘quilt paintings’ and her still clean and sharp, but more naturalistic, works that often depict scenes and historical architecture of the Catskill Mountains. In her ‘Quilt paintings', Pettigrew uses the aesthetic language of pieced textiles, a traditional women’s art in the Catskills, to depict non-traditional and sometimes jarring imagery. In the more realistic group of paintings, Pettigrew creates quiet and understated but uneasy images referencing history. Those familiar with the area may recognize architecture from the Farmer’s Museum, the Gideon Frisbee House site, and local farms. Uniting the two series are the feminine perspective, tonal restraint, and sense of being lost-in-time that are evident in all of Pettigrew’s work. 

By eschewing a traditional gallery setting and staging the exhibition in a historical house museum, Pettigrew matches the space to the intimacy and mystery of her works, making the show a full and transporting experience for the viewer. One feels a sense of removal from what is prosaic in modern life, 

with what Pettigrew has left, perhaps being, ‘too pure for this world.’

Emily Pettigrew (b. 1991; York, Maine) received a BFA from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. NY. In 2018 she was awarded a residency at Cill Rialaig Retreat, Ballinskelligs, Ireland. Her work is included in the collections of the Hall Art Foundation. Recent exhibitions include Shrine, NYC; Drive-By Projects, MA; and Monya Rowe Gallery, NYC. Pettigrew lives and works in the village of Delhi, New York in the Catskill Mountains.