Ric Strange
Symbolic Perspectives
July 7 - August 22, 2006
Reception:
Thursday July 13, 2006 6-8 PM
Press Release
With a body of work totaling nearly three thousand pieces, Ric Strange’s oeuvre is about a progression in artistic process. Driven by “a subconscious passion to create effective, freshly interesting, timeless museum quality abstract paintings,” Strange makes paintings for the spectator to experience. He is motivated by the hope that his works will be “simply enjoyed and that they are stimulating and inspirational to the viewer.” Strange achieved this aspiration by trading palette for technique throughout the course of his lifelong career, delivering his canvases to their most recent arrangements of symphonies in texture, intensity, and density. Like the mid-twentieth century modern masters that Strange pits himself against, his work is about spontaneity and technique. There are no conscious statements, hidden agendas, or unilateral interpretations to his work. Approaching each canvas without a preconception of subject, “the painting ‘becomes’ from nothingness.” Pure creation takes place as Strange applies his heavy, gesturally expressive brushstrokes in an aggressive, semi-controlled, chaotic manner. By introducing the sgraffito technique - a method involving the scratching away of the topmost, usually wet, layer of paint to expose the dry layer underneath - Strange reveals the painting from within, as part of the viewing experience of the onlooker. The result is a collection of artworks that are not only aesthetically pleasing artifacts, but also sensually stimulating encounters. That Ric Strange is able to accomplish this feat through a monochromatic palette testifies to his artistic ability as he adds postmodern dimension to the modernist quest for painting’s purification. In 2002, Ric Strange moved to the small Midwestern town of Laddonia, Missouri where he continues to paint in the abstract expressionist style.
Invitation to the exhibition
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