Jack Bryan, fingers and brushes, improvisational landscapes : East Gallery, November 9, 2009-January 3, 2010.

              Jack Bryan East Gallery November 9, 2009 - January 3, 2010
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Untitled by Jack Bryan
Untitled by Jack Bryan
Jack Bryan
Fingers and Brushes: Improvisational
Landscapes
East Gallery - November 9, 2009 ? January 3, 2010
April 4, 2011
Jack Bryan's love of art began as a young boy
during extended family vacations to Japan in the
mid-1950s. There he was inspired by Japanese
artists who worked in ceramics, woodblock
printing, and woodworking.
During his high school years he explored
Oklahoma with adventures to Otter Creek in
Tillman County, the Red River south of Tipton
and Elmer, Quartz Mountain, and the Wichita
Mountains Wildlife Refuge near his current home
in Lawton. These experiences helped him develop
a love of nature and understand the magnetic
power of landscape. The works included in this exhibit, titled Fingers and Brushes:
Improvisational Landscapes, express Bryan's continued adoration of nature and the process
of creating.
Bryan's style of painting exemplifies many of the
characteristics of the Expressionism style of art. The
movement originated in Germany in the early 20th century
and followers focused on capturing vivid emotional
reactions rather than physical reality through powerful
colors and dynamic compositions. Some examples of
Expressionist painters include Paul Klee, Mark Chagall, and
Vincent van Gogh. Like the Expressionists, Bryan strives
to make art that reveals a personal and expressive touch.
Bryan begins each painting not by using a paintbrush, but
as many young children first experience painting, he
finger-paints. Through the use of his hands, fingers, and
rags, he manipulates the paint that has been squeezed
from the tube directly onto the painting surface to achieve
what he calls the "first state" of the painting. Some artists
call this first stage "under painting." While the paint is still
wet, Bryan thins out some areas, outlines other areas, and creates patterns by scratching
with his fingernails or blotting or wiping with rags. These changes to the surface create the
structural foundation for the painting.
Using skilled brushwork, Bryan completes the final
steps of the work. A complete painting may take
as many as a dozen sessions of the artist's hand.
Bryan says he decides a work is complete when he
feels he has accomplished an "inherent sense of
dynamic tension and resolution."
He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1965
from the University of Oklahoma and completed a
Master of Art History degree at the University of
Capitol Exhibitions
The Capitol is home to four art
galleries, exhibiting works of
current and past Oklahoma
artists.
East Gallery
North Gallery
Governor's Gallery
Betty Price Gallery
About the East Gallery
Located on the first floor of the
Capitol, the East Gallery
features paintings and mixed
media works by current
Oklahoma artists. Exhibits rotate
approximately every 60 days.
Hours:
Weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Weekends 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (use
west entrance)
The East Gallery is curated by
the Oklahoma Arts Council. For
more information contact Alyson
Moses at 405.521.2931 or
alyson.moses@arts.ok.gov.
Past East Gallery Exhibitions
Selection of Artists for
Exhibition
Upcoming East Gallery
Exhibits
Pamela Husky (Stigler)
December 10, 2012 -
February 10, 2013
Regina Murphy (Oklahoma
City)
February 10 - December 10,
2012
Gina Dowling (Norman)
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