Much of James Aponovich’s life was recently in boxes, as he and his wife moved to Peterborough from their long-time home in Hancock. But the renowned artist and New Hampshire native can remember a time when much of his life was in boxes because, well, boxes make pretty affordable dressers.
Aponovich, who has headlined galleries in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and was named New Hampshire’s Artist Laureate in 2006, can recall the beginning of his painting career, when the only time he’d find himself at a gallery was when free refreshments were involved. That’s why contributing a piece to the upcoming 14th annual Friends Charity Auction, even while preparing for his latest New York show opening this fall, was something of a no-brainer.
“I know what being an artist is like, and often times artists are very sensitive to the needs people have,” Aponovich said. “The whole thing about struggling, starving artists is not a fairy tale. So an artist often will (donate to a cause), because they understand the fragility of existence. It doesn’t matter if it’s for Hancock or Peterborough or Concord, it’s just a way of helping people in need.”
Aponovich had a little fun with the theme, Reflections of Concord, by choosing to paint a still-life of Concord grapes on a windowsill, with the view from Dimond Hill Farm sprawling in the background.
“I decided to do a still life of Concord grapes, figuring that would be sort of cheeky,” Aponovich said. “But it didn’t make any sense just to have the grapes, so I painted the view from the top of Dimond Hill Farm, because it looks over Concord.”
Aponovich didn’t set out to become an accomplished artist when he attended the University of New Hampshire, but after dabbling in a number of genres, he found his niche in painting still lifes accompanied by landscape backgrounds. His career skyrocketed from there, eventually leading to shows around the country, the opportunity to paint in Italy and a 2005 retrospective at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester ahead of his artist laureate honor.
“You don’t choose it; it chooses you,” Aponovich said of a career in art. “Talent is necessary, but it’s really not the major thing. Talent you can develop. You work at it; it’s a skill, a craft. That’s the physical act of painting. But the other part is often times artists are artists because they don’t fit into any other form of work. It’s a very solitary life; it’s not anything you work with other people on. It’s not a corporate endeavor, it’s a very inpidual endeavor. If you have a romantic vision that you want to be an artist and you think it’s going to be cool, that ends after about a year.”
That speaks to the difficult juggling act of balancing a burgeoning art career with the ability to secure pesky daily requirements like food and shelter. Making the decision to pursue art as a full-time venture is not for the faint of heart, which can make donating works, even to deserving causes, an arduous and difficult decision for some.
Even Aponovich, who has established himself as a respected and successful artist, has struggled with the idea of giving works away, especially because it’s not the kind of thing you ask of people in most other professions.
“I always find it difficult, because artists are often asked to donate things to various causes. But this is what we do for a living,” Aponovich said. “It’s like asking a carpenter to donate a week of their time to make cabinets for your kitchen. It’s not that easy. I always tell people, because I’ve been involved with a lot of non-profits, be very careful when you ask an artist to do something like this, because you are asking them to do something that is not only very important to them but provides sustenance.”
The decision to help the Friends auction was complicated for Aponovich because he is finishing up a year’s worth of work on a show that is set to debut at Hirschl and Adler Galleries in New York City this fall. But when he was approached by Bob Larsen of the Friends Program, a former student and close friend, he promised to squeeze a piece in. He ultimately completed the work a day before Concord’s art walk, finishing the painting in a little more than a week.
Not that a quick turnaround is anything new for Aponovich. Among the varied celebrated projects he’s worked on – his paintings are part of the collections at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Portland Museum of Art in Oregon, among others – he once completed one new painting per week for a year, titling the journey Aponovich 52. It was shown at a gallery in Lincoln, Mass. and can be followed on the blog Aponovich kept at aponovich52.blogspot.com.
Aponovich has always been inspired by things around him while living his entire life in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire and on the coast of Maine, and he and his wife try to make annual journeys to Italy, where he has been a visiting artist at the American Academy of Rome.
Even while working at that institute of artistic study, though, Aponovich has always held true to the belief that the easiest way to develop as an artist isn’t by studying under one but by simply being one, even if it requires keeping your clothes in cardboard for a few months at a time.
“The best school for art is painting,” Aponovich said.
