“The two extremes of artistic vision can create a vacuous, polarizing effect. Though gray areas abound, the push-and-pull between depicting reality and praying at the alter of the abstract are still prevalent today.
To find a middle ground within a traditional medium such as painting takes an admirable effort to say the least, but some are up for a challenge.Oliver Vernon’s new show, “Tilt,” at David B. Smith Gallery asks us to let go of our need to make sense of what we see and be content to immerse ourselves in his surreal, imaginative world.
Vernon’s new large-scale works lull the viewer into a false sense of security with a harmonious palette that spans the natural world and other realities, but the content is a bewildering jumble of concentric circles, fans, and oozing rivers. Bucolic scenes collide with futuristic worlds more chaotic than our own in these new landscapes.
Vernon goes beyond mere touches of surrealism by traveling through several vocabularies of the weird and unexpected. Geometric forms give way to fluid swirls of color, which then flow back into the familiar. Vernon’s “Tilt” destroys what we know only to hold our hand through the reconstruction.
Oliver Vernon’s “Tilt” will be on display at David B. Smith Gallery until March 24, 2012.”
We would like to congratulate Bon Iver, Gregory Euclide and Jagjaguwar Records for winning Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album at the 54th Grammy Awards! Euclide created the album cover artwork for the award-winning album, ‘Bon Iver’ by Bon Iver.
For further information on Gregory Euclide’s artwork or an available limited edition print of the work which appears on the ‘Bon Iver’ album cover, please visit our web store or visit the gallery in person.
In addition, the album artwork and a written contribution by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver are featured in a recently released limited edition, signed and numbered, 96-page hardcover book on the work of Gregory Euclide, published by David B. Smith Gallery. Please visit our web store for additional information.
We were delighted to receive a review by Michael Paglia for Liz Miller’s current exhibition Recalcitrant Mimesis. Paglia states, “…The whole thing is spectacular, and I stopped dead in my tracks when I walked through the gallery’s front door and took it all in…”
We are pleased to welcome Nicole Schwager to the gallery as our new Assistant Director. Schwager joins the gallery from the CU Art Museum, Boulder, CO and Kayne Griffin Corcoran (formerly GRIFFIN) in Santa Monica, CA. Her expertise is in contemporary and modern art, with emphasis on contemporary Asian art as well as themes of gender and space. She received her M.A. in Art History from CU Boulder and graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in History and Art History.
“The November opening of the Clyfford Still Museum has invigorated the local art scene in Denver, CO, but long before the commotion, David B. Smith Gallery has consistently provided the region with cutting-edge contemporary art. As part of a city-wide initiative to celebrate the opening of the Still museum, the gallery enlisted the help of Liz Miller. The mixed-media artist crafted an exhibition that pays respect to the great abstract expressionist by venturing beyond mere tribute and keeping Still’s rebellious spirit intact.
Miller turned the gallery space into a navigable jungle for Recalcitrant Mimesis, featuring an immaculate installation and delicate works employing a variety of materials. “Mimesis,” meaning mimicry or superficial resemblance, accurately represents the work and how Still’s influence is merely a stepping stone rather than a bible.
The work takes thematic cues from Still, such as his palette and lively brush strokes, transforming them through the use of new media. And yet, while on the surface it references Still, Miller manages to create her own distinct experience. The work accompanying the installation clearly shows Miller’s perspective, leaving the viewer striving to contextualize the forms while failing to mutter a single thought. There are elements that are familiar, but making total sense out of the figures would be a fruitless and frankly misguided task to take on.
Though Miller’s works with pre-existing shapes, her removal of forms from their original context creates a world free of presumption. Though it is technically a collaborative effort by the Still museum and the gallery, “Recalcitrant Mimesis” is capable of standing on its own two feet, enjoying the sunlight as opposed to existing in Still’s shadow.”
“One of the fringe benefits of having the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver is all of the sideshows that will come along as part of the package, starting with Liz Miller’s site-specific installation “Recalcitrant Mimesis” now at the David B. Smith Gallery. Miller uses Still’s expressive brushstrokes as inspiration for her paper-based constructions. Unlike Still’s work, they bounce off the walls in three-dimensional form. But they share his spirit and his expressive choices of shapes and colors.“
Courtesy of Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar and Gregory Euclide
Via Pitchfork: “Bon Iver will release the new 12″ single for “Towers” from Bon Iver on January 23 via 4AD in the UK. The release will come Stateside via Jagjaguwar on March 6.
The single will come backed by a cover of John Prine’s “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)”. Justin Vernon’s cover of the song opened the 2010 compilation Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine.”
Gregory Euclide’s cover artwork of the single, Untitled, is also featured on the inside cover of the album Bon Iver, Bon Iver. The artwork was featured in Gregory Euclide’s October, 2011 exhibition at the David B. Smith Gallery.
Untitled (detail image)
Acrylic, geranium, mylar, paper, pencil
23 x 29 x 3 in.
2011
“The rural scenes depicted on Bon Iver’s second album were drawn by American contemporary artist Gregory Euclide. Reflecting the record’s rustic roots – the songs are all named after geographical locations, some real, others imaginary – Euclide used natural elements from his surroundings in the etching, including pieces of pine cone and snow from a nearby forest.”
ARTnews Magazine has reviewed Gregory Euclide’s recent exhibition at David B. Smith Gallery. The review, written by Kyle MacMillan, is in their December 2011 issue.
“Gregory Euclide puts a fantastical spin on the genre of landscape art, creating scenes that commingle the natural and artificial. For this fascinating exhibition, the up-and-coming Minnesota-based artist created ten hybrid relief works, none more than 29 inches wide or tall, that deliberately blur the distinction between painting and sculpture….” – Kyle MacMillan
