Monday, May 18, 2015

Go Figure the Expression

“Art was the tranquil place where I always lost myself for hours at a time.”
Veronica Dyer

 

There is a certain cool detachment in the abstract expressionist work of Venezuelan born artist Veronica Dyer. Unlike the fire in the belly energy of Pollock or the dramatic angst of Rothko, Dyer's works have a contemplative demeanor an almost “stop and smell the roses” vibe. As she says on her website "Layer by layer, minute by minute, hour by hour, day after day - with palettes, knife, brushes, sponges, spatulas, my hands - I uncover thoughts emotions and freedom in my paintings."

For the last 14 years Dyer has been living the good life in the sun drenched Texas capital, Houston, and it shows in both her palette and subject matter. From the warm grays offset by the sun burnt greens of the verge in A Day of Cycling (see above) to the overall warm rendering of her portrait of Carlotta (see below).

The inclusion of recognizable portraits in her oeuvre, of which there are many, further distances Dyer from the abstract expressionists of the 1950’s and 60’s.

Dyer received her early instruction in painting from her grandfather, the figurative Italian artist Nerino de Panfilis, at the age of 13 in Venezuela. And whilst she developed her own freer style, figurative impulses still often intrude into her work.

As Dyer says “It is the constant progression of a piece that excites me - the changes, the challenges and the accidents too. From that comes my enjoyment and fulfillment, seeing and feeling the canvas acquire its own life, an expression of the intangible coming from all the realms of my experience.


Dyer’s current exhibition Cement, Screen and Sun, which includes the use of found objects from construction sites, is on show at Houston’s Archway Gallery until the 4th of June.


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