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Robert Dale Anderson
& Sydney Yeager Exhibit To
be published in Voice of Art Magazine |
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Yeager has
come into her own style of applying paint. Earlier paintings, to my
eye, which included references to recognizable objects, were not as
successful as these canvases. In those paintings, great effort was
taken to build up a textural surface rich in color. Then, as a final
gesture, the recognizable objects were painted. The result was often a
thinness that cancelled out the overall impact. A thinness, which
placed into question the importance of the objects or that of the
thick textures. However, in the new paintings Yeager never lets up.
The visual volume (if you will excuse the metaphor) is intense and
loud. The gesture is incased in the color. The differences in the
paintings are one of visual vibration. Asymmetric
Disturbance is a relatively calm picture compared to Degree
of Constraint. Yeager constructs the paintings by building up
rhythmic overlays of paint. The color palate is restrained and
initially suggests a monochromatic theme. Yet the paintings are full
of contrast. The initial viewing of the paintings gives one the sense
of an overallness that is somewhat agitated. On closer inspection one
experiences the complexity of paint application, color and
compositional systems. In Degree
of Constraint, the Baroque-like gestural form that is repeated is
achieved by the contrasting of several brush strokes of varying
colors. The beauty is in the formulaic system of consistency from
layer to layer over the entire surface. The symmetry is always in
danger of falling apart. This creates a tension that keeps the
paintings from becoming mere decorative pictures. They are pictures
that are demanding of attention; they do not sit and behave in a
genteel manner. They are paintings whose vitality and energy will
stand the test of time. Robert Dale
Anderson's drawings are a very interesting juxtaposition to Yeager's
paintings. Whereas Yeager's paintings are large in size (48 inches
plus) Anderson's drawings are large in scale and small in size (7
inches to 13 inches). Both Out
There and Left Standing are drawings that depict landscape vistas. Anderson's
work is often associated with the famous 15th century
Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch and the 16th century Dutch
Bruegel family of painters. In my opinion the associations are more
like Bosch meets Ensor meets Jan Vermeer. Anderson's images often
evoke a nightmarish dream-like state. They are of places that often
feel familiar but have never been seen before. They are possibly
referential to specific works of part but their origin is not readily
obvious, nor does it need to be.
In Anderson's most recent works, the illusion of light
emanating from a specific source and falling on objects adds a magical
twist to the themes. Earlier works tended to be more frontal and to
close the viewer off as if in front of a wall. These newer drawings
use light to maneuver the viewer in and out of the compositions,
creating a sense of space in a large scale. Like Bosch, Anderson
seduces the viewer to investigate closely the world created by the
artist. Bosch uses brilliant colors and a sense of familiar landscape
compositions to lure the viewer into his moralistic and apocalyptic
paintings. Once the viewer is drawn in, he is trapped by the
otherworldliness of the imagery. Anderson's drawings project a soft
gray light that is soothing and inviting. Once drawn in, the viewer is
taken into the artist's world of morphed plants, animals, humans,
interiors, and landscapes. In this world, the objects have an
appearance of being in a state of decay. But it is a decay that is
treated with a gentleness and delicacy. The soft range of grays,
created by the graphite, has taken the edginess off of the works (as
compared to earlier works). The result is a more contemplative picture
that lingers in the viewer’s mind. This may be the result of a more
contemplative and mature artist. Individually,
each artist has produced a body of work that would stand alone as
significant solo exhibitions. It is impressive to see that the
majority of the art exhibited was produced in the last twelve months.
Both artists are familiar names on the Texas art scene and I am sure
that we will be hearing more about both of them.
If you miss the exhibition it would be worth the effort to
visit the d berman gallery and view what pieces by each of these
artists David Berman might have on hand. The gallery is fast becoming
the finest contemporary art gallery in central Texas.
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