You are Here, Recent Paintings by Byron Spicer
October 16 - November 29, 2010
Opening, October 29, 2010, 6 - 8 PM
Artist Statement:
They look so simple. Smiley faces like our kids paint in second grade. Look closer. Take your time. Perhaps you are having one of those typical frazzled days having yet again circled for parking far too long and arriving late to another item on the to do list. Maybe your classes are bogging you down juggling them with all those texts and emails. And let's not even get started about the assault on middle class aspirations and catastrophic environmental collapse. Will all this negative thinking manifest as more frustrating circumstances like they say it will?
Put it all aside and take a moment. Maybe there is more to all those childlike smiles than pollyannish naivete. Even in the weighty art world there has been space for joy. Think of Matisse's circle dancers and Miro's swirling blacks. All of this comes into play when I refine painting and joy. I'm paring it down to something immediate and essential. Like the minimalists of previous decades, I resist my desire to embellish. Now is a good time to get back to the basics.
So I invite you to take some time to seriously consider your joy, both on the surface of things and the joy that holds the world together. Delight in the combinations of colors, imperfect line, and quirky smiles. Find that face with the glint in the eyes. Relish all the imperfections.
You are here, right now. And if you are feeling it go back out there and do what most needs to be done with a little skip in your step.
