For Jivan Lee’s upcoming show at Altamira Fine Art, it’s all about light. While the Taos, New Mexico-based artist is enamored with the landscape that surrounds him, inspiring an exploration of varying concepts, Lee has mainly dedicated his new body of work to the spectrum of light. The Taos landscape is the “scaffolding” behind his observations of light and visceral human responses, revealed in roughly 12 new pieces with bold texture, thick brush strokes and a stunning palette.
Magenta Glow, oil on panel, 48 x 48 in.“My practice seems to walk between a few modes that weave together and also feel distinct,” shares Lee about the works featured in his show Full Spectrum. “One mode approaches conceptual ideas that I want to explore, like how we see and think about the landscape, what happens when a constant composition is revisited through many years, or how our idea of a thing we see, such as the landscape, can be very different from the thing itself. Another mode more directly addresses and responds to experiences of felt sensation that happen in human bodies—what a winter storm sounds like, how the monsoon season looks or what sunset light feels like on our skin.”
Below Quartzite-Late Light, oil on panel, 48 x 48 in.
Ultimately, Lee wanted to see how dedicating a body of work to the spectrum of light would feel, and what he might get to learn and share as a result. “I’ve been painting sunset light as it stretches across the high plateau or hits the mountains,” he elaborates. “And I’ve been trying to catch the arc of colors that appear and evolve throughout each day, from sunrise through midday, and then into sundown.”Lee also expresses his love of landscape—how it is both the most deeply known aspect of our humanity and is ever-renewing. “So, I aim to let my work develop out of this quality of sensation; the marks and approach are very much those that I’ve been working on for years,” he says, “[yet] I’m getting to go places creatively that I haven’t gotten to go before; bolder colors, bigger shapes, new observations and sensations put into paint. And they are developing in literal locations that I’ve been before.”
Chromaticism, oil on panel, 48 x 36 in.
A highlight from the show, Below Quartzite-Late Light, is a piece painted at a location that was the subject of a multiyear series, where Lee created a large group of 30-by-30-inch pieces throughout many seasons. Now, the pieces are all larger, with the extra space providing more opportunity. “[The light in this piece] is set at about 30 or 45 minutes before the sun set, and it’s got that golden hour glow,” says Lee. “The location is dynamic with the river flowing and the light moving quickly from left to right across the piece.”
In Magenta Glow,we see a view right at sundown in the artist’s favorite spot to paint at Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. “The work is oriented facing west just after the sun set,” Lee adds. “That central span of magenta right at the horizon was such a cool thing to see. I thought some about the ‘green flash’ that I’ve read about sailors very rarely reporting, how fleeting and almost unbelievable it is. This magenta had some of that for me...”
Below Quartzite-Sundown, oil on panel, 48 x 48 in.
Visit Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona, from January 27 through February 7 to experience Full Spectrum in person. An opening reception will be held January 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. —
Altamira Fine Art 7038 E. Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 949-1256 • www.altamiraart.com
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