February 2011

Providence Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Offers Works by Travis Bruce Black

Providence Gallery in Charlotte, NC, will present the exhibit, Little Bird: Compositions, featuring works by Travis Bruce Black, on view from Feb. 3 - 29, 2012. A reception will be held on Feb. 3, from 6-9pm.

The exhibition features the painter’s popular “Chirps” series, vivid small bird figuratives created in watercolor and pencils on paper and mounted on wood.

Black’s “Chirps”, depict colorful bird figuratives in the foreground, while in the background, the artist freely explores the give and take between the elements of line, shape and color. The painter likens these works to “explosions, color gradients, unfilled line drawings and a rich chaos coming together as a recognizable creature.” 

It is the artist’s deft use of the elements of line and color that draw the viewer into each composition. The layers of vivid color and intersecting and diverging lines cause the observer to question: What am I really seeing? Is this really a bird? Or, if you look more closely, do the combinations of color and line take you out of the world of realism into a world of rich fantasy and imagination?

Black credits his wife’s quilting and childhood memories of growing up in the Catholic Church and experiencing the beauty of glowing stained glass windows as inspiration for his art. His choice of medium and approach to his artwork is decisive. The combinations of strong lines with fluid watercolor are effectively used by the painter to simultaneously illustrate control and chaos.

Black explains his artistic motives thusly, “To express the fullness and my experience of life I try to work in visual paradoxes like straight lines versus curved lines. I try to show the spectrum of difference between abstraction and naturalistic form to illustrate how layered reality is and to flesh out a more inclusive picture of what ‘real’ feels like.  An overarching theme for my work is how complex creatures are and how every living thing is a little package of total mystery.  This thought puts magic in my head.”

Black declares his primary goal as an artist is “to create compelling work that brings joy, optimism and mystery to other people’s lives: Art that expresses my lust for life and the simple exuberance of being.”

For more info, check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/333-4535 or visit (providencegallery.net).

[ | February 2012 | Feature Articles | Carolina Arts Unleashed | Gallery Listings | Home | ]