Contact: John Addison, 505-992-0711 June 9, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chris Richter: Revealed
July 3 – August 1, 2015
Opening Reception: Friday, July 3, 5-7pm at new location, 558 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM – Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art is pleased to present our second major solo exhibition for abstract painter Chris Richter this July 3 – August 1, 2015 from our new location at 558 Canyon Road.
Revealed is a new body of work that continues Richter’s exploration into painterly abstraction with its conceptual roots based in nature. Much like you can witness time and growth on the bark of a tree, or the form of a forest, Richter’s paintings reveal a similar growth into being. Richter explains:
Many of these new works incorporate painterly strokes and gestural marks used as a point of departure to disguise and unearth a vision of nature. Colors shift and vibrate, resonating into something identifiable and yet indescribable. An embossed line within the painting’s surface hints at another dimension, as the fluctuation of color and surface-sheen reflect an intriguing place of reference. Furthermore, the square composition of these canvases removes them from the familiar landscape which inspired them, into a field of engaging abstraction.
On another level, Richter’s new paintings are very process oriented. Each painting is executed with dozens of layers of paint, which after drying the artist works back into, sanding down to previous layers and bringing form to the color. As the process continues in each piece, and collectively in the group, a body of work emerges with individual paintings relating and responding to each other. While these paintings are definitely abstract, you can feel the connection the artists has to the natural world in general and trees and forests in particular. These elements of nature provide the inspiration for the work.
Another aspect of this exhibition is the debut of Richter’s Reclaim series of works on paper. Using paint from the canvases that has accumulated over time on his palette and tools, Richter re-mixes and re-applies the paint to paper in deceptively simple bands of color. Things start getting interesting as these bands of color react and interact with each other, forming dynamic compositions. The Reclaim paintings on paper relate very well to the Reveal canvases as they are made of the same ingredients but express a much different form.