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April Issue 2010
Robert Lange
Studios in Charleston, SC, Features Works by JB Boyd
Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC, will present the exhibit, Length, featuring contemporary landscapes by JB Boyd, on view from Apr. 2 - 23, 2010.
This exhibition features the work of the contemporary realist landscape artist JB Boyd. Length, is a dramatic and engaging body of paintings that chronicle the American landscape including areas near Goat Island, SC, where the artist lives. Boyd's series captures the unique quality of Lowcountry light as well as inspiring horizon line views at various times of day.
"I believe that there is a difference between making art from the side of the road and walking out a quarter of a mile into the pluff mud," says Boyd. "Living and painting on Goat Island gives me exactly that opportunity, to stick my feet in the mud and contemplate the beauty that makes the Lowcountry unique."
Boyd's painting style is a contemporary update of the American landscape tradition and continually exceeds the expectations of collectors. This series in particular demonstrates Boyd's ability to meticulously render the details of the landscape in which he is immersed.
Visitors to the exhibition will be given a glimpse into the artist's world and are provided with paintings that visually communicate the conjured emotions of Boyd's island life. The featured paintings will be a series of long skinny works. No detail is overlooked in the preparation of his paintings, from the handcrafted panels on which he paints to the frames housing the work.
One of the pieces for the show, Posttraumatic Stress, is an aerial view of the water. The 3-by-12 inch oil on panel piece sits just off the wall in one of Boyd's customary shadowbox frames and when viewed appears to encompass an expansive vista.
"His style of painting is unlike anyone else I've seen making landscapes," says gallery owner Robert Lange. "He veered away from the photorealist and landscape realms to create his own language and is continually reinventing the way water, sky and land is painted."
Boyd has shown work in both New York and Los Angeles before joining RLS Gallery in 2004. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and received a BFA from Tuft's University. He has been painting seriously since he was sixteen.
Boyd offered the following artists' statement: "I don't know if you have ever observed this strange thing, the self. Often the more you look the more it doesn't seem to be like it, and the more you look the more it isn't it. It's just like when one is lying on the grass and staring at a cloud- at first it is like a camel, then like a woman, and when you look again it becomes an old man with a long beard, but this doesn't last because clouds are transforming every instant."
"I love that instant. That perfect point where a shadow that has been scratching its way across the ground completes the composition, where the wind drops like a feather to leave the surface of the water perfectly reflective, the moment where the grass is golden, reflecting the glow of the setting sun. Or perhaps it is that brief moment where a cloud stands up to show itself against the fading light of day, right before it will be torn apart by a merciless wind, dying into the cold night."
"It is the instants that make the mosaic of life a reality, and it is the gift of the artist to be able to pick that apart, mull it over, slow it down, and refine it into an image that can translate that moment (or any moment) back to the viewer. This is why I take so much time in creating my paintings, even to the point where I spend hours simply staring at what I have or have not accomplished, making sure that it is 'right'."
"The moment exists, but it is my sincere hope that through no lack of effort, will, and technique I can refine it to the point where it translates into a reality for you, the viewer. And make no mistake, it is truly your reality, your moment, and I hope it is beautiful. Because in the end life is beautiful, and the harder you look the more perfect and complete it may be."
For further information
check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at
843/805-8052 or visit (www.robertlangestudios.com).
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