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
Selina Foote, Berthe, 2025, acrylic and graphite on canvas, 600 x 500 mm

Foote’s Balustrades

TWO ROOMS

Selina Foote

 

The Balcony

 

15 August - 27 September 2025

JH
Tony de Lautour, Black Mountain 2 2025, acrylic on canvas, 750 x 1000mm

Obliterated Titular Language

IVAN ANTHONY GALLERY

Tony de Lautour

 

Location

 

26 July - 23 August 2025

JH
Richard Killeen, Catspiralcatspiral (9458), 2025, Ink jet and Bona Mega Matt varnish on ACM, 1000 x 480mm

Containing Meaning

IVAN ANTHONY GALLERY

Richard Killeen

 

Jar

 

26 July - 23 August 2025

JH
Steve Carr, Many Steves, 2025, pigment inkjet print; diptych each 1524 x 1016mm unframed, 1550 x 1045 x 35mm framed, 1550 x 2090mm framed overall Edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof

Chortle Chuckle Carr

GOW LANGSFORD GALLERY

Steve Carr

 

How to Disappear

 

30 July - 23 August 2025