| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
November Issue 2005
Robert Lange Studios Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features Works by J.B. Boyd
The Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC,
is presenting the African landscape in a completely new manner.
The expanding countryside of Cape Town, Namibia, Zimbabwe and
many others come to life via the tightly knit strokes of artist
J.B. Boyd. The exhibit entitled, The Africa Paintings,
will be on view through Nov. 30, 2005.
These obsessive works are not characterized by their technical
proficiency or impeccable use of color, which are both apparent,
but rather by their measurement, Boyd's need to constantly pair
length versus width.
As fine art enthusiasts step into the gallery they may be greeted
with a 90-inch wide painting that boasts of no more than 3 inches
in height. This profound composition consists of nothing more
than a photo-realistic landscape painted with the tiniest of brushes.
This view does; however, cover thousands of miles highlighting
the majestic vistas Boyd was privy to while traveling. Within
this specific show, we find the extreme horizontal as described,
but also the extreme vertical, the square, the extensive small
painting, and the bare minimal enormous piece. Each composition
is intentional and always unique.
As a first time viewer conquers their understanding of these extreme
compositions they will notice what can only be described as a
beeswax finish to the pieces. The first layers of these paintings
are graphite sketches followed by a burnt sienna and turpentine
wash to create the underlying lights and darks of the image. Boyd
then slowly works in multiple layers of color. The surface is
carefully kept flat to preserve the uniformity of space, and the
final surface layer is a glaze of cold wax. This not only provides
an archival protective layer for the painting, but also adds the
soft matte finish not often seen with oil painting.
Boyd considers himself a professional vagabond, constantly traveling
in search of a place. "This search is as ambiguous as it
is elusive, like the horizon line in the distance," says
the artist.
Once found, whether it is Wyoming, Santa Fe, or in his most recent
adventures, Southern Africa, Boyd immerses himself in the landscape,
recording his panoramas with the simplest of 35 mm SLR cameras.
These paintings are modern documents of that landscape, culled
from extensive photographs taken along those roads, then cropped,
edited and rearranged into works that bring to life the many destinations
of a practiced traveler.
For more information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/805-8052 or at (www.robertlangestudios.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2005 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2005 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.