Monday, December 31, 2012

Azure - the color blue



After three years of not showing my paintings other than in the recent studio sale I hosted in my home, I have been asked to participate in a show with two or three other painters at B2 Gallery in Tacoma. The show is called Azure, and it will be a theme show based around the color blue (or blue as in sad or depressed or any other interpretation of "blue" the artist may choose. 

I chose the easy way. I picked paintings that had a lot of blue in them.

As is often the case, I was asked by the gallery to write a statement about my work. Here's what I wrote:

The paintings in this exhibition are select images from the final decade of a 40-year painting career. My work reflects a strong influence of the Abstract Expressionist painters who were at the height of their popularity during my formative years in college and graduate school — most notably the influence of Willem de Kooning with his expressive and energetic gestures, lyrical lines, and peekaboo spatial ambiguities.

"Jack's Back," oil on canvas, 1995, 31" x 41"
Most of my paintings are abstract, but there is always a figurative aspect with references to human and animal bodies in environments derived from nature. I try to capture the movement and the felt emotions of people and animals in their essential activities — the flight of a bird, the sensual slither of a snake, the explosion of a fish leaping out of water; and the sensuality of human bodies at rest and in motion.

Visually I try to capture the fleeting balance between harmonious and contrasting elements: hard and soft edges, smooth and rough paint strokes, bright and dull colors, precise patterns and atmospheric spaces. I hope the paintings can be appreciated for their pure celebration of color, shape and texture.

The show opens Jan. 17. I will post more information when we get closer to the opening.

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