Santa Fe- Chiaroscuro is pleased to present a solo exhibition titled Pacific, by California based abstract painter Daniel Brice. Pacific is on view from July 8 through August 6 in the main downstairs gallery at 558 Canyon Road. Please join us for an artist opening reception on Friday, July 8 from 5-7pm.
Pacific is a combination of large-scale works on canvas and smaller-scale works on paper. Inspired by the vast horizons and water flow of the Pacific Ocean, all the pieces are complex abstractions refined to an almost minimal color field painting. Starting with multiple ideas and gestures, which become slowly refined and more minimal as the process proceeds, Brice explains, “My pieces start as loud compositions going in many directions at once, like a storm moving across water, and hopefully end up in a quiet spot or calm when the artwork is resolved.” Brice can be described as a “reluctant minimalist” as he moves through his process of manipulating color, surface and form, making decisions and finding the voice for each work.
The horizon line plays a strong part in all the works. It serves as a visual anchor and dividing line in the abstractions and also helps project a sense of vastness and depth. For the large-scale oil on canvases, emerging out of a strong color field ground which sets the tone for each piece, the horizon line and gentle lines of waves begin to appear and move your eye throughout the composition. For the charcoal on paper pieces these same expanses are evident, yet without the color for a completely different feeling of space and movement, equally subtle and emotional, all rendered with simple charcoal stick and the artist’s hand. The oil on paper pieces forgo the horizon line all together yet develop a vast painterly depth of color and texture to immerse the viewer.
Daniel Brice is an established artist from Southern California, whose palette and artistic sensibilities are related to Color Field painting. Chiaroscuro has represented Brice since 2007 and this is his fourth major solo exhibition at the gallery.