Trekking through Shifting Landscapes
Ryan Reynolds, Overpass
One of our current exhibits on display isShifting Landscapes, the artwork of painters Chelsea James and Ryan Reynolds. These artists examine the subtleties of their surroundings, and record the persistent changes of everyday landscapes. The pairing of their work mimics the views we see while driving from one side of town to the other- vast crop fields and rolling hills set beside quickly growing neighborhoods and shopping centers. Driving through the Valley to Los Angeles, we find ourselves lost in the quiet mountains before stumbling upon massive skyscrapers and tangled freeways.
Their styles are similar, simplified shapes and dusty, muted colors, but the differences are what make their work so powerful. Ryan Reynolds is able to make the viewer feel the movement (or lack of movement) of the congested freeways, the stuffy air and lack of natural environment. In contrast, Chelsea James allows to us to feel the stillness of the air in a distant open space, uninhabited.
While Ryan Reynolds paints on-location, setting up his easel and paints on a freeway overpass or from the side of the road, Chelsea James does not paint specific places. She takes from her memory locations she has encountered and builds them up, creating new environments – a hill from somewhere, a valley from another place, a tree or rock – from travels in Europe to the United States. Her work is a combination of memories of utopia-like locations.
Chelsea James, Flush
“Painting is a study of our existence, spirit, and environment, derived from experiences in life. I choose landscapes that evoke feeling, create situations of atmospheric mystery, and bring visual interest through interaction. I’m intrigued by subtle shifts in value, color, and texture; yet seek a personal interpretation of the landscape rather than a replication. It is not about the physical location, but rather the interpretation of the landscape, perhaps knowingly familiar to the viewer. Personality is revealed through the process of painting. Abstract remnants from my process remain visible in the final product. The hand must obey the spirit.” – Chelsea James
In his piece, “The Maze Eleven Days” Ryan Reynolds illustrates new construction. Through Reynolds’ interpretation of each day’s work we are able to view the construction in changing light. As the days move forward so does the landscape, transforming from clear blue waters to piles of metal and concrete. The unfinished construction of both the painting and the subject-matter forces the viewer to imagine the end result on their own, and allows the space to remain in a state of construction indefinitely.
Ryan Reynolds, The Maze Eleven Days
“I choose to paint the places along the periphery of public spaces – a footpath, a freeway, a park, or a street corner. I make paintings that capture the process of the visual experience. This includes the immediacy of seeing but also the changes that occur throughout the days and years that we form our collective impressions. Through the process of observation and recording, I focus on the elements of time, space, and light as seen in a changing shadow, a ship unloading cargo, a moving person, or a sky set against the more permanent objects of the build and natural environment. Urban place-based painting offers a visual way to expand our understanding of historical ecology, by opening a dialogue between human culture and the environment, and conveying a deeper understanding of the human role in transforming the landscape.” – Ryan Reynolds
Educational Supplements to this exhibit are downloadable on our Teaching ResourcesPage. For more information, contact lsherwyn@bmoa.org.
This exhibit will remain on display through March 4, 2012.
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