COLOR QUERIESJimi Gleason, Timothy Schmitz, Woody Shepherd

COLOR QUERIESJimi Gleason, Timothy Schmitz, Woody Shepherd

MARCH 9 - APRIL 27. 2012

LLC

Railyard: 1613 Paseo De Peralta Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.3250 Downtown: 125 West Palace Avenue Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.8997

www.lewallencontemporary.com

cover: Gibson Wilderness, 2008, oil and acrylic on hardwood panel, 72 x 72 inches

While extending LewAllen Galleries’ celebrated practice of exhibiting work that involves color as a principal component of visual language, Color Queries also represents a departure from the gallery’s well-recognized program of frequently exhibiting the work of older and more established lions of East Coast painting traditions. While examining three seemingly disparate ways in which color animates pictorial expression, the show features the work of a trio of younger artists from the Western and Midwestern United States. It also introduces to the gallery a new artist, Woody Shepherd, whose muscular painting style portrays observations from nature through complex compositions and bold, active color. Shepherd, a graduate of the Yale School of Art and the recipient of numerous painting awards, is juxtaposed with two very different artists who have long been a part of LewAllen’s painting stable and whose use of color is equally powerful –if perhaps less dramatic. The viewer has a similar sense of Shepherd’s fantastic revelations of nature as critic Clare Griffiths described in the Times Literary Supplement about the recent, intensely chromatic English landscapes by David Hockney: the paintings “delight in pattern and color, yet they also take the viewer into a simulacrum of a real landscape.” Shepherd’s re-imagined treescapes utilize striking color to advance and reinterpret landscape painting; this tightly focused body of work conveys an acutely personal sense of the Alabama countryside from which Shepherd hales, but strokes of electric chartreuse and neon orange inject unexpectedly large-minded elements into our traditional understanding of painted woodland scenes. This bold array of colors also reveals the captivating beauty of nature from a new, profoundly energetic perspective. Shepherd’s fondness for plein air painting allows him to capture the changing light and spellbinding beauty of the outdoors, evincing his innate understanding of nature’s patient, quiet transformations. Although his color palette includes artificially bright neons, Shepherd’s use of them seems intuitive and endlessly varied. Even with the injection of often-riotous color, Shepherd’s approach suggests a humble and contemplative attitude; the unexpected brightness invigorates and refreshes the scenery rather than merely assaulting our preconceptions of it. With his vibrantly colored, large-scale tableaux, Woody

Shepherd seamlessly combines elements of chaos and composure. In doing so, he suggests that color not only adds to a strictly visual appreciation of a composition, but also has a galvanizing effect on our ultimate understanding of and engagement with the subject matter. In the newest of Timothy Schmitz’s deeply nuanced, atmospheric compositions, color and texture form a symbiotic relationship. Suffused in this work is a refined sense that beauty comes from the visually modest and humble. There is quiet grace and a sense of classical elegance in these pieces–a purging of the extraneous and a reduction to visual essence. By employing a range of artistic mediums and techniques–including oil, wax, ground marble, alkyd and resin–he creates works whose ethereal and richly textural character make them resistant to easy classification; earthy coppers and chalky grays are anchored by the sculptural quality of the surface. A profound feeling of visual engagement radiates from these elegant orchestrations of surface mastery. The employment of these disparate materials results in richly textured, quietly dramatic works whose glistening surfaces evoke the strange dynamism of ceramic finishes. Schmitz’s work has consistently been informed by continual exploration of new materials and techniques. By varying the number of multimedia layers he applies, he differentiates areas of color–urging the viewer to consider the transformational power of pared down, pure color. His work reveals a masterfully executant hand, but it’s tantalizingly unclear whether the hand leads the mind or vice versa. With virtuosic skill, he creates vertical and horizontal areas of color by varying the number of layers of pigmented wax to create both hard-edged stripes and soft, ethereal transitions in hue. The overall effect is of a luminous structure of floating light and color. Schmitz speaks to the sustaining and resolutely organic qualities of natural environments in creating subtle gradations or else emphasizing bolder, more grounded areas of hue. The works have been called interactive by viewers, because they appear to change as one walks around them. With varying degrees of translucency, the surface seems to be in relief even though it is in fact quite smooth, and the apparent depth of each area shifts with the angle of vision. The tactility

COLOR QUERIES: Jimi Gleason, Timothy Schmitz, Woody Shepherd

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of the waxy surfaces lends Schmitz’s work a quality that he says “generates a lot of emotion in people who see them.” In his unusual approach to contemporary minimalism, Schmitz has acknowledged varied influences, including the abstracted, multimedia forms of Richard Serra and the enigmatic, evolving oeuvre of Gerhard Richter. After many years as a ceramicist, Schmitz began to incorporate media that would allow him more freedom. Highly process oriented, he works with nontraditional, nonfunctional forms—including wall pieces—and unusual, hand-applied finishes rather than traditional glazes. Timothy Schmitz is an inveterate experimenter whose ideas bear witness to his ceaseless creativity. His newest paintings use complex arrangements of line, marks, and shading to merge the solidity of structure with fluid movement. California painter Jimi Gleason has long been heralded for his boldly chromatic, luminescent compositions. Using methods that depart from traditional painting techniques and media, his experimentations with the effects of light and shadow on pure color make him an innovative contributor to contemporary minimalist painting. Gleason’s foil-hued, iridescent palette of acrylics achieves an uncanny depth and striking quality of transparency. In his application of dozens of layers of pearlescent paint, Gleason creates for the viewer an immersive experience that riffs between the optical and the deeply phenomenological. Radiating outward from the center of the canvas, the paint pools in runnels and folds along the edges, forming an effervescent frame that is both constantly in flux and frozen in time. Revealing no evidence of traditional methods for applying paint to canvas, such as brush marks, splatters or pouring, Gleason’s paintings have a mysteriously seductive effect on the eye. Colors, tones, and aqueous textures emerge and shift as ambient light and the viewer’s perspective change. In showcasing acrylic’s mutable qualities while simultaneously encouraging its autonomy, Gleason’s paintings are both synthetic and effortlessly organic. According to the artist, each painting is “a frozen moment for those who wish to ponder the visual riddle I offer them. “Gleason talks about the “ghost-feel” of his paintings, calling them “moody” and “changeable”. Originally, he found artistic inspiration while working as a photographer’s assistant in the mid-1980s. Examining photographs from an old Polaroid camera, he fell in love with their “beautiful emulsive edges” and decided to replicate those edges with an unexpected medium.

At first he worked exclusively in acrylic, smoothing layers of the paint with plasterers’ trowels and other fabricated or handmade tools. Then, over a period of years, he experimented with other paints, including enamels and auto lacquers, in an effort to achieve the glossy feel of a photographic print. Finally, in the mid-1990s, a friend introduced Gleason to the new refractive interference and iridescent acrylic paints that he then chose as his preferred medium. Each of Gleason’s paintings reveals a high level of technical precision. He meticulously drags numerous gossamer layers of pearlescent acrylic paint down and across the canvas. In certain spots the paint is allowed to pool or ripple, creating a viscous, melted effect at the outer edges. The paintings are luminous and smooth as glass. Yet beneath the shimmery surface there is a sense of constant flux. Colors, textures, tones and subtleties emerge as ambient light and the viewer’s perspective change. The effect is enigmatic, ethereal and emotionally resonant. According to Jimi Gleason, the aspects of light and space in his work are related to his experiences as a surfer: “A lot of it has to do with growing up surfing in California. You want to get out there early to get the ‘glass’—those are the ideal conditions—and being out early you see a lot of beauty, the sun coming over the horizon. I think it has a lot to do with my dealing with light and space in my work. It shows.” The creation of these intriguingly sensuous surfaces occurs to the viewer as both deeply cerebral and effortlessly spontaneous. At first glance, the minimal purity of Gleason and the spare, textural abstractions of Schmitz have little in common with Shepherd’s vibrantly representational landscapes. However, these artists collectively explore color’s role as a visual and emotional catalyst, and in doing so create an engaging experience rooted in their individual insights about beauty. Their work reflects the different ways in which each sees the world, whether the reality is an internal one–in the case of the two non-representational participants, Gleason and Schmitz–or an external one, in Shepherd’s case. These realities are each mediated by another realm too, wherein the artist’s observed environment melds with his personal sensibilities to portray unique stylistic responses. What transcends their various pictorial modalities is the remarkable fluency with which each uses color to articulate his unique visual message and create work that is optically elating.

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4Edge, 2006,acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”

5Luminous Crown (Honor), 2006,

acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”

6Emerald of Venice, 2006,acrylic on canvas, 53” x 48”

7Exposed Soul (Ambient), 2006,

acrylic on canvas, 48” x 36”

8Roundabout, 2006,acrylic on canvas, 60” x 60”

9 Shadow Flyer, 2006,

acrylic on canvas, 53” x 48”

10Viridescent Kine, 2006,acrylic on canvas, 48” x 36”

11 Bouncing Soul, 2010,

acrylic on canvas over panel, 45” x 30”

12Vaulted, 2008,acrylic on canvas, 36” x 36”

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JimiGleason

Emphasizing seductive surfaces, nontraditional materials, and the use of luminescent colors to catalyze inspection of the mechanics of perception, Jimi Gleason stands among today’s most important practitioners of West Coast Minimalism. The artist’s profoundly meditative paintings instill contemporary abstraction with references to the dramatic glimmer of Cibachrome photography as well as the beautifully distorted edges of Polaroid film by means of a layering procedure that derives from printmaking techniques. Dragging iridescent acrylic pigments along tautly-stretched canvases, Gleason surrounds radiant planes of color with peripheries whose folds and runnels ground the work’s vaporous atmospherics in the here and now of direct physical experience. Highly reactive to transient light effects and modifications in viewing position, the resulting paintings invite spectatorial involvement to suggest the infinitely broad experiential possibilities of art. Born in Newport Beach, California, Gleason received his BA from UC Berkeley in 1985. He then studied printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute before relocating to New York City, where he worked as a photo assistant and photo technician. Returning to California, Gleason was employed in the studio of Ed Moses for nearly seven years. Synergizing the disparate technical and compositional principles developed during his exposure to printmaking, photography, and mixed media painting, Gleason is now the subject of considerable curatorial and critical applause. Exhibited in significant public institutions including the Armand Hammer Museum, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the Seattle Art Museum, the artist’s works are actively collected by a growing number of major public and private collections internationally.

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Untitled (SF.GCLB), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas over panel, 36” x 30”

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Untitled (SF.RYC), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas

over panel, 32” x 48”

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Untitled (SF.YCG), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas over panel, 32” x 48”

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Untitled (SF.OGCB), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas

over panel, 32” x 48”

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Untitled (SF.BAC), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas over panel, 41.5” x 36”

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Untitled (SF.BTC), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas

over panel, 30” x 48”

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Untitled (SF.NCR), 2011,oil & ground marble on canvas over panel, 41.5” x 36”

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TimothySchmitz

Timothy Schmitz’s process-driven abstract paintings achieve aesthetic purity through the mastery of complex techniques. Using exotic materials, including a combination of ground marble and oil on panel, the artist produces quietly dramatic works whose richly crackled textures, glistening surfaces, and incendiary hues evoke the complementary dynamism and stillness of ancient ceramic finishes. Informed by rigorous experimentation and the embrace of chance and procedures, Schmitz’s art is distinguished by its uncommon compositional harmonies and understated expressiveness.

Born in Wisconsin, and now residing in Minnesota, Timothy Schmitz studied ceramics during high school and was offered a scholarship to the ceramics program at Alfred University in New York. Selecting to pursue his arts education independently, the artist’s highly individualized approach and command of diverse media earned the attention of LewAllen, which presented his first exhibition in 1995. Having featured in significant museum exhibitions, the artist’s works are actively sought by a growing number of corporate and private collections.

22Farewell, 2010, oil & acrylic on hardwood panel, 76” x 84”

23 Spring Fall, 2011,oil & acrylic on

hardwood panel, 47” x 60”

24Honey Blue, 2011, oil & acrylic on hardwood panel, 84” x 71”

25Gibson Lakes, 2009, oil & acrylic

on hardwood panel, 73” x 79”

26Gibson Wilderness, 2008, oil & acrylic on hardwood panel, 72” x 72”

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WoodyShepherd

A North Carolina native, Woody Shepherd has been drawn since childhood to the regal vibrancy and meditative qualities of the deep forest. Shepherd, who has cited a life-long fascination “with the interaction between perception, painting, and the natural environment,” received accolades for his unique take on landscape painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he obtained his BFA, and from Yale University, where he received an MFA in painting.

Employing a wide range of colors, from Kelly green to psychedelic orange, Shepherd’s compositions convey an almost ecstatic energy. In his characteristic ability to merge the majesty of the forest with vivid strokes of magenta or neon chartreuse, he challenges our preconceived notions of natural environments while elevating the traditional landscape palette to dramatic new heights. In his fondness for imbuing forest landscapes with dashes of bold color, his work has drawn comparisons to the re-imagined treescapes of David Hockney as well as to the landscape paintings of Kim Dorland and Peter Doig. His large-scale compositions, for the most part, are highly representational, but with his dramatic color palette and quirky details, Shepherd asserts his fluency with the tenants of contemporary abstract expressionism. Despite the traditionally tranquil nature of the subject matter, these works bear witness to a fervent dynamism and dazzling attention to detail. Shepherd often sketches and sometimes paints in the woods; in his predilection for plein air painting perhaps the keen sense of movement in his work is explained. Shepherd is drawn to nature’s capacity to affect us not just physically but also cerebrally, or, in his words, the ability he has as an artist to “access the spectrum of human emotion.”

Since 2005, Shepherd has lived in Logan, Utah, where he is an assistant professor of painting and drawing at Utah State University. Shepherd’s studio is based in Logan, where he continues to work on his paintings. His work is included in private and public collections of national stature and continues to gain recognition in exhibitions across the country.

Railyard: 1613 Paseo De Peralta Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.3250 Downtown: 125 West Palace Avenue Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.8997

www.lewallencontemporary.com