Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Tim Tait is a creative person for whom visual art and design are tightly linked. A respected graphic designer, he has created materials like visual identities and wayfinding for clients including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Harvard Business School, MIT, Brown, and the Providence Public Library, among many others. Tait is also a gifted painter whose lush artworks are the focus of a new solo exhibition at Dryden Gallery in North Providence. Titled Painting Place, Tait’s impressive showcase is on view through July 12.

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Originally from Long Island, Tate earned a BFA in Drawing from the Pratt Institute and has enjoyed a varied and celebrated career in art and design. He started out as an assistant and preparator at the important Bernice Steinbaum Gallery in New York where he worked with famed artists like Jane Quick-to-See Smith, Miriam Schapiro, and Faith Ringgold, with whom he collaborated closely. Ringgold would later curate Tait’s artwork into exhibitions in New York and New Haven. In 1996, Tait relocated to Providence and began working as a designer for Malcolm Grear. During a 22-year-long tenure, Tait eventually became Vice President of Malcolm Grear Designers Inc., one of the nation’s most renowned design firms. Tait now consults independently on design projects and maintains an active painting studio in his Rhode Island home.

Asked about the role his career as a designer has had in his renewed practice as an artist, Tait says, “To me design and art are synonymous in that a painting reveals itself through composition, figure/ground and color relationships, and so on—essentially the same considerations that make a good design. I have to say that working with Malcom Grear for so many years really sensitized me to seeing form and counterform, rhythm and pacing, and ultimately striving to create an image that stays with us—something that feels both personal and universal—that we continue to think about long after we’ve encountered the image.”

Tait spent many years focused on design work while making visual art on the side but in 2015 was able to reestablish his own artistic practice. He has since been actively showing in group exhibitions and his current show at Dryden Gallery is his first major solo show. It does not disappoint. Tait’s astute sense for composition and color set his work apart. Using the temperamental medium of acrylics, the painter utilizes a special extender to slow the drying time of his paints and give his work a nuanced aesthetic more akin to an oil painting.

Speaking about what it means to show at the gallery, Tait explains, “This is my first time showing a large body of work (37 paintings) together in one space, and while I think each painting holds its own, I believe that the installation as a whole also says something, a cumulative expression of how I see. I’m especially grateful to have this show at the Dryden Gallery simply because I feel so at home here. The open space, the quality of light, and especially the people (Liz Kelley, Mea Duke, Geoff Gaunt and the gallery staff) make the experience professional, yet so welcoming and human. I think visitors feel that as soon as they walk in the door.”

The paintings Tait is sharing at Dryden are fresh and summery. There is often a sundrenched quality to the way he depicts a domestic structure, or a sailboat, or a bouquet of flowers on the dining room table. He is attuned to bright light and saturated color. The quietly distinct shadows cast by an overhanging eve or a solitary fencepost show off his treatment best. In still life work, his hand is reminiscent of Morandi.

For Tait, his paintings are meant to express things that are hard to describe. Reflecting on what he aims for viewers to experience when looking at his work, he says, “My hope is that the paintings connect to a shared experience, a sense of place—and the immediacy of a visual encounter that makes an imprint in our memory. I would like the paintings to speak to those things that can’t easily be expressed in words.”

Tait’s solo exhibition at Dryden Gallery is just the start of an exciting new chapter in his artistic life. Also represented by Jessie Edwards Gallery on Block Island, his next solo show will take place there starting August 22.

Tim Tait’s solo exhibition Painting Place is on view at Dryden Gallery at Providence Picture Frame through July 12, 2025. The gallery is located at 1350 Mineral Spring Avenue in North Providence and is open Monday-Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm each day. Details on visiting are available at https://www.drydengallery.com/onview

Learn more about Tim Tait at www.timtait.art, and follow his practice on Instagram at @timothytait.

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