Sam Cady | Parts of the Whole

Comprised of works spanning over 40 years, Sam Cady | Parts of the Whole is a close look at the artist’s oil paintings on shaped canvases. As David Raymond describes, “Cady’s canvases bracket and conform to his subjects’ edges in a courting of precision similar to the language of poetry. It is a precision that feels familiar enough that when encountered it surprises like something stranger than it ought to be.”

Living and working in Friendship for many years, Sam Cady paints between the extremes of trompe l’oeuil and abstraction. Cady is nationally known for his shaped works that closely follow the shapes of actual objects. His relationship to coastal subjects and influence from pop, realism, and minimalism, allow him to create icons that show the viewer the world from an acute perspective.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

Whether or not you go, Sam Cady: A retrospective exhibition of paintings, prints, and drawings, 1966-1986, is an illustrated exhibition catalogue for the artist's 1987 show at Addison Gallery of American Art.