Ian Fisher: They Are Ghosts | Project Room
Steadfast in his subject matter, there is a romanticism to Fisher’s work as he holds his attention on the beauty and awe-inspiring power of nature. Fisher’s paintings, rendered through layered, time-based observation, depict landscapes that resist clarity, foregrounding the instability of vision and the temporal nature of experience.
David B. Smith Gallery is thrilled to announce They Are Ghosts, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Los Angeles, CA-based artist Ian Fisher. Formerly a longtime Denverite, Fisher is well established in the region and internationally for his expansive portfolio of paintings featuring clouds and skyscapes. They Are Ghosts is indicative of Fisher’s greater art practice, encapsulating conversations that veer into the natural world, art historical convention, and the artist’s inter- and intrapersonal histories.
Holding a special connection to Colorado, Atmosphere No. 197 (Come On, Compadre. Come On!) is based on a photograph sent to Fisher by a friend nearly 10 years ago. In this image, the pink and orange tones characteristic of Denver sunsets capture an emotive quality that correlates with warmth and friendship. Both the central work in the exhibition and the final work to be completed, Come on, compadre. Come on! invokes a time and feeling for the artist. From the starting point of the photograph, the context of the exhibition unfolds, one that acknowledges the past while decidedly looking into the future.
Accompanying works in the exhibition feature the unique quality of Los Angeles light and the dustier hues of the California coast. These works depict not only the wistful sky that has beckoned countless artists to move out west, but a personal shift for Fisher, having relocated to Los Angeles several years ago. Embedded in his cloud paintings is an abstraction of personal narrative, as told from the ground gazing upward.
Steadfast in his subject matter, there is a romanticism to Fisher’s work as he holds his attention on the beauty and awe-inspiring power of nature. Fisher’s paintings, rendered through layered, time-based observation, depict landscapes that resist clarity, foregrounding the instability of vision and the temporal nature of experience. Through a lens squarely trained to the skies, in They Are Ghosts, Ian Fisher uses the language of cloud forms to bend hyperrealism to expressive ends.
