Art By Quadriplegic Painter Featured At Norwalk Gallery

From Alder Crocker:

February 5 2020

Fairfield and Norwalk, CT (February 5, 2020): While it is not uncommon to see disabled people delving into and succeeding in the abstract arts, Alder Crocker is on a mission to make his work and upcoming show more memorable than what has been seen before.

Quadriplegic, confined to his electric wheelchair and without movement in his fingers – the result of a freak accident in May 2018 – Alder will bring creativity, interactivity and fun to the Rene Soto Gallery in Norwalk, One Wall Street, at the public opening reception from 6-9pm on Saturday February 15th - specifically by showcasing an array of styles and different, highly interactive ways to view and experience his paintings.

Focusing primarily on abstract expressionism, Alder has worked hard to come up with the most efficient and effective methods to create his paintings. Utilizing latex and acrylic paints, and the occasional ink, he uses a specialized action painting technique he describes as "the Four Corners Approach."

Because he must remain in his wheelchair, Alder paints on a canvas laying flat on a table. To maximize coverage and creativity, he rotates the canvas continuously until completed. Essentially, he is painting from "all four corners and sides", and inherently paints four paintings within one painting itself – each side slightly, and sometimes radically, different than another.

The hidden bonus is that almost all of his paintings can be viewed and hung from any of the four sides!

“We are very excited to have Alder as our featured artist from February 13th through March 11th,” said Nancy Breakstone, Curator of the Rene Soto Gallery and owner of Nancy Breakstone Photography. “His paintings are very creative and unexpected, yet familiar with hints of his paying homage to the pioneers of abstract expressionism. Combined with his unique interactive hanging approach to experiencing his art, we expect a great turnout.”

“I am grateful Nancy and Rene are giving me this opportunity,” Alder said. “They have been very supportive – to me and many other artists in lower Fairfield County – and their gallery will be the perfect venue for people to see new and different artwork, and experience hands-on interactivity with actual artwork… like never before.”

What Crocker means by this is that he will showcase several of his works that are prime examples of his “4 paintings” results, by using a unique rotating hanging system that allows the viewer to spin the painting to view it from any perspective…within seconds. “No need to crane your neck left or right anymore when viewing abstract art,” continued Crocker. “The idea came to me after so many people kept turning their heads when looking at my paintings. I figured there had to be a way to hang a painting to allow them to see it and experience it however they wanted to. This approach achieves that and changes the way people can interact with art.”

Alder's primary goal is to create work that makes people want to look again every time they pass by, while also enabling them to continuously find new "snowflakes". His focus, as a result, is painting layers upon layers using many different brushes and wooden drip sticks, and featuring vibrant, raw and unexpected color combinations. Viewers eyes are meant not to focus on one part of a painting but to see what they want and create their own personalized vignettes whenever they see his work.

Prior to his accident and painting career, Alder was an award-winning marketer for creative and strategic campaigns, and also acted, wrote and performed radio and video voice-overs. He is married with three adult children, and currently lives in Fairfield, CT.

Reception is open to the public from 6-9 pm Saturday, February 15, at Rene Soto Gallery at One Wall Street in downtown Norwalk. Parking is available on Wall Street and at the city lot above Wall between Main and High Streets.

This press release was produced by the Alder Crocker. The views expressed here are the author’s own.