Press Release: I'll See You Again, Soon

Abigail Ogilvy Gallery presents I’ll See You Again, Soon, featuring gallery artists Mishael Coggeshall-Burr, Susan Murie, Wilhelm Neusser, and Natalia Wróbel. The exhibition pulls together four unique styles that individually explore themes of nostalgia through personal experience.

In his latest works, Wilhelm Neusserplays with perspective, using a combination of brushstrokes and etching to create a space that appears just out of reach. A chain link fence acts as a barrier between the viewer and a romantic landscape, suggesting a voyeuristic longing for an indeterminate place or time. Neusser paints his pieces in one sitting, etching the fence before the paint dries. This technique invites speculation on whether it rests in the foreground or background, creating a feeling of contextual limbo for the viewer that contrasts the idea that one is looking at a very particular physical place. Initially visualized during the pandemic, Neusser’s fence series builds on the idea of an untouchable landscape and the way humans interact with the natural world.

Natalia Wróbel presents two of her newest artworks in the exhibition: First Breath, and I’ll See You Again, Soon. The former is a musing on the idea of the conditions present as something is forming, right before coming into being. While creating this piece, Wróbel was contemplating the miracle of life and all the elements working in tandem to create the whole, which was particularly inspired by the recent birth of her son and the awe and mystery she has felt from his powerful spirit. Wróbel created these two paintings together, and in I’ll See You Again, Soon, she further explores the magnetism of spirit through her strong relationship with her beloved grandparents, Zofia and Jerzy Zientra, who have since passed. Wróbel’s sweeping, vivid colors illustrate the warm visual memories of summers spent at their garden home in Warsaw.

Mishael Coggeshall-Burrfurther explores the concept of nostalgic reflection through the integration of photography and oil painting. Coggeshall-Burr references images from his travels, selecting peripheral scenes with cinematic color and tone. His newest body of work further iterates these feelings of nostalgia: in La Parisienne (Blue Hour), we see a scene from the Latin Quarter of Paris at the end of a workday, as Parisians make their way across the busy Blvd St Germain, climbing out of the Odeon Metro, meeting friends for an aperitif at Le Relais Odeon, carrying themselves for all the world like actors on a set: handsome, ineluctable, intent on their purpose. This scene is common in Coggeshall-Burr’s works, which pull from memories. He integrates his personal experiences into the paintings while also leaving room for the viewer to feel nostalgia for the place.

Susan Murie’s artwork is based in photography, capturing images with a camera to create the negatives assembled in floral compositions actualized through intricate cyanotypes. She explains, “As I gather imagery, I am drawn often to flowers, some animals, windows and doors, clouds, and found objects that have appeared out of nowhere and seem to bring me a message or meaning. These then become part of my thinking about the ethereal nature of things, fragile bonds and the materiality of cyanotype.” The deep Prussian blues offer the duality of allowing the viewer a total immersion, while also creating a vast visual distance between viewer and image. Murie’s practice serves as a visual record of her own thoughts and emotions at the time of creation, drawing from an archive of images that range from florals to household objects reminiscent of her life and her family. Each resulting cyanotype is a unique object in itself, and a record of time.

When combined, the four artists’ work inspires a sense of introspection and examination of the transience of the past. They employ their own respective styles to capture a sense of nostalgia, using color, collage, and photography to transport the viewer to a place that will only exist in memory: places they wish to share.

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Mishael Coggeshall-Burr studied painting at Middlebury College, The Glasgow School of Art, and the Art Student's League in New York.  His artistic adventures have led him to many countries and continents, with many images from his travels featured in his art exhibitions. He lives, works and paints in Montague, MA with his wife and four children.

Susan Murie is a New England-based artist. She currently has work on exhibit in the National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association and recently at the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Art 8th International Call. Her work was exhibited in the 22nd Annual Frances N. Roddy Exhibition 2021 at the Concord Art Center where her work, The Crossing, received a prize awarded from juror Sam Adams. In 2021 and 2020 Murie was awarded Artist of the Year in the Members Prize Show at the Cambridge Art Association. Her artwork was published in the London-based INKQ, Inky Leaves Publishing, Issue 9, Spring 2020 as well as featured in The Hand Magazine, Issue #26 in the Fall of 2019. Her work has been juried into and sold at the MassArt Auction in 2021, 2020 and 2019. Murie’s work has been featured on The Curated Fridge, Somerville, MA. In addition to private collections, Murie’s work is in the permanent collection of Fidelity and the City of Somerville.

Wilhelm Neusser’s artwork has been widely exhibited and he has received numerous awards and fellowships. His recent museum exhibitions include the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, 2019), the Fruitlands Museum (Harvard, MA, 2019), and MASS MoCa (North Adams, MA, 2018). In 2020 he was honored with a finalist grant in Painting from the Mass Cultural Council. Additional awards and recognition include the MASS MoCA Studio Program (2017), Vermont Studio Center (2013), Finalist, Wilhelm-Morgner-Prize, Soest (2010), International Artist in Residence, Boots Contemporary Art Space (St. Louis, MO, 2009), ZVAB Phönix Art Prize (2007). Neusser’s work has been included in notable publications, including The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Artscope Magazine, Boston.com, and Big Red & Shiny. Wilhelm Neusser was born in Cologne, Germany. He relocated to the United States in 2011, and currently lives and works in Somerville, MA.

Natalia Wróbel (b. 1989) is an artist based in Southern California. Wrobel studied Studio Art and Art History at Dartmouth College. She furthered her study at the Lorenzo de'Medici Institute in Florence and then the New York Studio School (NYSS). She received the NYSS Mercedes Matter Fellowship in 2012, and the Murray Art Prize in 2015. In 2017, Wrobel completed a painting residency at the Berlin Art Institute. Her work has been featured at international art fairs including Art Basel: Miami, Texas Contemporary, and Art SouthHampton and has been an official selection at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and MassArt Auction. Her paintings have been featured in publications in the US and Europe, in coursework at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and are included in public and private collections around the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. Wróbel's work is represented by Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Boston, MA.