Cordata Gallery is proud to present PURE JOY, a solo exhibition of local artist Joy Olney, celebrating the radiant spirit that runs through her lifelong practice. Featuring a selection of her favorite subjects (flowers, waterscapes, and portraits), the exhibition reflects the simple joy she finds in painting and the sense of peace her works convey.
At 75, Joy Olney (b. 1950, in Bordeaux, France.) continues to live up to her name. Her paintings radiate warmth, brightness, and the open spirit of her personality. A graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Olney studied with instructors connected to Charles Hawthorne and Henry Hensche of the Cape Cod School. Their teaching instilled in her a love of color and the importance of keeping color fresh. She often quotes Hensche, who said “paintings are to teach man to see the glory of human visual existence.”
Olney's production is vast, spanning hundreds of paintings, often obsessively revisiting the same subject. This exhibition brings together a curated selection of her flower paintings, waterscapes, landscapes, and portraits. Olney’s works are not about grandeur, spectacle, or perfect depiction. Instead, they celebrate the overlooked moments that quietly fill our everyday lives. At first glance, her subjects may appear simple, but over time, each canvas reveals something more elusive: flowers that feel freshly arranged, waterscapes hinting at bathers just out of sight, and portraits—of friends, models, or strangers—that aim to capture a person’s inner essence, their “beautiful spirit,” as she describes it.”
For Olney, painting is both routine and necessity. She paints almost every day, completing each work in one sitting, and describes the process as a way of being fully present: “When I paint, I don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow. I’m in the moment with whatever is in front of me.” In that sense, Olney’s paintings are an offering of joy to others. Her warm colors and effortless brushstrokes capture the fleeting moments and highlight the hidden beauty in things.
With Pure Joy, viewers are offered a rare opportunity to see Joy Olney’s paintings gathered together in one place. We hope this exhibition allows visitors to discover new layers of meaning within her paintings and to experience the joy and peace that she is known for.
