EVOKE Contemporary has assembled Gravitas | an art exhibition of the nude in painting and sculpture which opens April 29 in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, gallery and continues through May 21. It includes important works by Cheryl Kelley, Harry Holland, Soey Milk, Kristine Poole, Lee Price, Wade Reynolds, Daniel Sprick, Bernardo Torrens, Kent Williams and Shane Wolf.
Daniel Sprick, Reclining Nude, oil on panel, 36 x 48"
The Roman virtue of gravitas denotes weightiness in all its interpretations, from physical heaviness to seriousness, dignity and depth of personality. Writing of the human body, Mary Oliver commented, “[It] is the only vessel in the world that can hold, in a mix of power and sweetness: words, song, gesture, passion, ideas, ingenuity, devotion, merriment, vanity, and virtue.”
Kristine Poole, Duende, fired clay, 24½ x 22 x 21½"In her fired clay sculpture, Poole blends cultures and beings. A nude woman sits with a small raptor perched on her finger. Poole explains, “Duende is a quality of passion and inspiration. This sculpture is about following your passion in life, represented by the bird, a brahminy kite. The design work on the bird’s chest flows onto the woman’s arm and continues across her back, highlighting the connection and communication between them. It also embodies the blossoming that occurs when passion is your guide through life…Adding another level of communication, her right hand that the kite rests on is in the Palli Mudra—a hand symbol that represents listening to your inner voice and having confidence in yourself.”
Lee Price, Surfacing, three panels, 64 x 27¾" eachSprick portrays an individual model as a universal presence in his painting Reclining Nude. The model’s hip and left buttock are emphasized by her pose and by his use of light on her skin. The light on her torso has a highlight that emphasizes her nipple. Her head is turned away, concealing her expression, and instead, drawing attention to her form. The model is also set against a dark backdrop, further highlighting her as the focal point of the piece.
Bernardo Torrens, Liz II, 2009, acrylic on panel, 32 x 20"
Harry Holland, Group, oil on canvas, 36 x 40"
Torrens delves deep beneath the meticulously rendered flesh of his models. He says, “My work is about the human being. The deepest part of the human being.”Liz II embodies the characteristics of a liberated contemporary woman. Her head is in profile and her hair wrapped in a scarf removing her from a definable point in time. Torrens comments that the body “is the essence of the human being, and it is timeless. When you put clothing on, you date the person and that, for me, is portraiture. I like that too, but it is not the main body of work.”
Wade Reynolds, Figure with Standing Screen, on canvas, 48 x 60"
Reynolds’ Figure with Folding Screen presents a female nude in a provocative pose softened by shadow. Reynolds was a master of light and shadow as Sprick is today. If his minute brushstrokes were enlarged to resemble those of the impressionists or the pointillism of Seurat, you would see myriad juxtaposed colors. They remind us of the complex physical process of seeing and perceiving—of suspending the disbelief that the surface is merely paint. Despite its soft suggestiveness, a complaint prompted the gallery to remove it from the front window when it was displayed several years ago.
Shane Wolf, Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi, Battle Cry, mixed media, 58 2/5 x 40 2/3"
A quote comes to mind from Kenneth Clark’s book, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form: “No nude, however abstract, should fail to arouse in the spectator some vestige of erotic feeling, even if it be only the faintest shadow—and if it does not do so it is bad art and false morals.” —
EVOKE Contemporary
550 S. Guadalupe Street • Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 995-9902 • www.evokecontemporary.com
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