REIMAGINING THE CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE: NEW VIEWS AND INTERPRETATIONS

Cover Christopher Benson, Black Mesa 5, 2012, oil on panel, 18” x 24”

REIMAGINING THE CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE: NEW VIEWS AND INTERPRETATIONS

JANUARY 30 - MARCH 15. 2014

Scottsdale: 7036 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | 480.970.3600 www.lewallengalleries.com | info@lewallengalleries.com77036 E. Main Street

REIMAGINING THE CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE: NEW VIEWS AND INTERPRETATIONS

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For centuries, artists have gazed at the land around them and interpreted their observations in the form of drawings and paintings. Before the advent of Modernism in the last half of the 19th century, artists depicted their environment in ways that ranged from merely incidental background for loftier social and religious imagery to a zeal for mirror-like replication.

With the advent of Modernism, artists challenged the long-held conventions of art as solely mimetic representation and began to explore greater freedom of artistic interpretation. Drawing on the increasing tendency toward validation of self-awareness, painters expressed observations of the external world with greater reference to their own impressions in experiencing nature rather than merely seeking to duplicate its appearance. From rejection of the previous rules of making art, artists innovated styles of painting that have become known as Impressionism, Expressionism and Abstraction. These alternative and often looser forms of expression allowed for new ways of interpreting landscape within the realms of visual art. “Reimagining the Contemporary Landscape” is an exhibition by LewAllen Galleries Scottsdale of work by ten artists who exemplify various ways that this re-conception of the forms and

structures of nature have manifested within contemporary art. Departing from the time-honored traditions of pre-Modernism, each of these artists approach landscape painting in different but engagingly imaginative ways of responding to the rhythms and geometry of the land. Driven by a desire to depict not only a visual image of a place, but the feeling that is elicited when one truly experiences it, these artists employ styles ranging from quirky hyper-realism to gestural abstraction to convey a deep sense of emotionality and presence in these contemporary renditions of the traditional landscape genre. Works in the show are by artists Christopher Benson, Peter Bremers, Bernard Chaet, Boyd and Evans, Diane Burko, Otto Duecker, John Fincher, Woody Gwyn, Steve Klein, Daniel Morper, Forrest Moses and Pedro Surroca.

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Christopher Benson, Black Mesa 4, 2010, oil on linen, 46” x 58”

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John Fincher, Into the Woods, 2013, oil on linen, 40” x 58”

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John Fincher, Red Clay, 2013, oil on linen, 28” x 30”

Steve Klein, Exploration 169, 2012, kiln formed and blown glass, 18.5” x 18.25” x 6.5”

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Boyd and Evans, Canyonlands, 2011, oil on canvas, 24” x 79”

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Otto Duecker, Aspens, 2008, oil on panel, 24” x 20”

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Peter Bremers, Icebergs & Paraphernalia (11-241), 2011, kiln-cast glass, 9” x 19” x 6”

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Peter Bremers, Sedona (Canyons and Deserts), 2009, kiln-cast glass, 20” x 16” x 4”

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Peter Bremers, Icebergs & Paraphernalia (11-228), 2011, kiln-cast glass, 17” x 12” x 4”

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Diane Burko, Anhinga Trail (Edition 1/3), 2012, archival inkjet print, 30” x 30”

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Diane Burko, Canal Spring 4 (Edition 3/3), 2011, archival inkjet print, 30” x 30”

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Daniel Morper,Receiving Signals From the East, 2008, oil on canvas, 42” x 48”

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Daniel Morper, Flying Saucers, 2007, oil on board, 10.5” x 8.5”

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Bernard Chaet, June Yellow, 1999, oil on canvas, 24” x 36”

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Bernard Chaet, The Orchard, 1961, oil on canvas, 48” x 40”

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Woody Gwyn, Vega, 2007-2008, oil on canvas, 12” x 36”

Woody Gwyn, Comanche Gap I, n.d., oil on linen, 30” x 36”

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Woody Gwyn, Stanley Trees, 2006, gouache and watercolor on paper, 15” x 11”

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Forrest Moses, Galisteo Riverbend, 1989, oil on canvas, 40” x 42”

Forrest Moses, M 12/11, 2012, monotype, 34” x 47”

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Forrest Moses, Deep Wood Water, 2006, oil on panel, 32” x 32”

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Forrest Moses, Beaver Pond, 2007, oil on board, 32” x 32”

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Pedro Surroca, 11 Cows, 2008, oil on linen, 16” x 26”

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Pedro Surroca, Molinos Españoles (Spanish WIndmills), 2013,oil on linen, 37” x 29”

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Pedro Surroca, Fade to Black, 2010, oil on linen, 17” x 31”

Exhibition Artists

(Click Artist Name to View Biographical Information and Selected Works)

Christopher Benson

Boyd and Evans

Diane Burko

Bernard Chaet

Otto Duecker

John Fincher

Woody Gwyn

Steve Klein

Daniel Morper

Forrest Moses

Pedro Surroca

Peter Bremers

7036 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | tel 480.970.3600 www.lewallengalleries.com | info@lewallengalleries.com