Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to EyeContact. You are invited to respond to reviews and contribute to discussion by registering to participate.

JH

Richard Bryant Paintings

AA
View Discussion
Richard Bryant, Link, 2019, acrylic on panel, 300 x 350 mm Richard Bryant, Pine, 2019, acrylic on panel, 300 x 200 mm Richard Bryant, Cline, 2019, acrylic on panel, 250 x 250 mm Installation of Richard Bryant's 'The Circle and the Seal' at Ivan Anthony. Richard Bryant, Tile, 2019, acrylic on panel, 300 x 225 mm Richard Bryant, Leach, 2019, acrylic on panel, 250 x 200 mm Installation of Richard Bryant's 'The Circle and the Seal' at Ivan Anthony. Installation of Richard Bryant's 'The Circle and the Seal' at Ivan Anthony. Richard Bryant, Suit, 2019, acrylic on panel, 300 x 250 mm Richard Bryant, Hearn, 2019, acrylic on panel,300 x 200 mm Richard Bryant, Nail, 2019, acrylic on panel, 300 x 250 mm

Natural light is essential for these subtle works, so you can see the barely detectable brusherly direction of the underpainting, and the extremely delicate washes that partially cover pencilled grids. Because the chroma is mostly restrained, it can take several visits to notice the layering—due to the angle of the light (despite its diffuse nature) at the moment you are looking.

Auckland

 

Richard Bryant
The Circle and the Seal


28 August - 21 September 2019

In a sequence of alternating rooms at both ends of the Ivan Anthony Gallery, Richard Bryant and Patrick Lundberg spatially mingle their two exhibitions, two practices (one ‘nature’ / the other ‘culture’) dancing around each other, providing foils in thinking and painting methodologies.

Both are subtle in their use of materials (namely very thin paint), and impossible to accurately photograph, both force the viewer (and reviewer) to rely on memory of optical experiences, and both make you think about the works’ interaction with gallery architecture, especially the walls on which they are placed.

Bryant’s eight painted rectangular panels feature thin washes of cool and (mainly) pale acrylic, some loosely organised grids or horizontal bands, and an organic fuzzy mood with imprecise borders. With an emphasis on brushed and ‘scruffy’ marks, they allude to the natural world and its meteorological, geological and botanical processes, while hinting that chaos is about to intrude. ‘Feathery’ or spontaneous linear wash application is emphasised; quick manual brushwork that avoids the pristine whilst still retaining control. 

Natural light is essential for these subtle works, so you can see the barely detectable brusherly direction of the underpainting, and the extremely delicate washes that partially cover pencilled grids. Because the chroma is mostly restrained, it can take several visits to notice the layering—due to the angle of the light (despite its diffuse nature) at the moment you are looking.

Such chance factoring links to Bryant‘s organic grids, the way they play on the apparent ‘emptiness’ of certain stacked units, where a random factor shrewdly mingles painterly action with nonchalant indifference (seeming inaction). Like Pollock, Bryant seems to be indicating “I am Nature,” a tool through which higher energies pass—a bodily instrument at the disposal of considerably more elevated powers.

John Hurrell

Print | Facebook | Twitter | Email

 

Recent Posts by John Hurrell

JH
Installation of Bambury and May works at Sumer

Wall-Reflected vs Frontal, Directly-Radiating Colour

SUMER

Stephen Bambury & Anne-Marie May

 

The Still Point of the Turning World

 

26 March - 26 April 2025

JH
Virginia Leonard, Eating with Blue Blood and Village Knickers, 2025, clay, resin and lustre, 400 x 500mm plus ceramic tray.

Leonard’s Aesthetic….Hmm?

GOW LANGSFORD GALLERY

Virginia Leonard

 

The Wedding Breakfast: An Ode to Olly

 

26 March - 19 April 2025

JH
George Watson, Fields 3, detail,  hand dyed silk, fence batons, staples, 2300 x 230 mm overall

George Watson at Coastal Signs

COASTAL SIGNS

George Watson

 

The Farm

 

7 March - 12 April 2025

JH
Laith McGregor, S.O.S., 2025, clay and enamel, dimensions variable.

Performing Magic (with Anxiety)

STARKWHITE

Laith McGregor

 


Long Days, Longer Nights

 


15 March - 15 April 2025