marni muir gallery
marnimuirgallery.com ~ marnimuir.com
December Exhibition
December 3 – January 2 , 2009
Jim Matthew and C.L. Utley: Selected Works
Preview Reception: Wednesday, December 2nd; 6-8pm
First Thursday Opening: December 3rd; 6-8pm
Jim Matthew presents a series of acrylic paintings
created between 1992- 1996. They were an approach to painting that evolved from
a smaller, more tightly and intricately detailed series to a larger, somewhat
looser and less intricate approach. They all start using a basic construct made
of image transfers from magazine photographs and painted over with acrylic
webbing of lines.
The intent of these paintings is to create an interaction of objects formed from a purely random assortment of images. The randomness is a vehicle that is used to create a visual story which develops on its own without a deliberate attempt by its author to direct it anywhere. Animal, vegetable and mineral, they interact with one another on a limited spatial plane. The webbing of black and color provides a textural matrix that unifies the different subject matter being seen.
Art is a bridge
between consciousness and nature; a place as ancient as humanity itself. C.L. Utley works in traditional oil techniques in oil
and acrylic. Most of the work expresses strong figurative elements; abstraction
playing a varying role as a kind of visual music threaded through the image.
The source for the work come from just about anything; animals, people or
dreams emanating from the artist’s life in the Pacific Northwest. Utley’s father
was an active artist and musician in Seattle. As a result, C.L. Utley came to
know Northwest master artists such
as Mark Tobey, Robert Colescott, and Guy Anderson very early in life. Their
influence on his painting is something he has welcomed.
Images above top: Jim Matthew, Dealing with It, Acrylic on Canvas, 35 x 45 inches
Bottom: C.L. Utley, The Perfect Storm, Acrylic on Canvas, 20" x 24"