The New York University, Kimmel Galleries, are pleased to present, Clarity, Passion and Dark Inertia: Paintings by Eric Dever, an exhibition of 29 paintings which brings the viewer on a journey, similar to the path of the artist himself.
In
the beginning of this decade long process Dever limited his palette for
4 years to white alone — Zinc and Titanium white. While examining the
material properties of paint and support, he uncovered a white spectrum
ranging from opacity to translucency. He then introduced black, working
through grayscales, widening the range and force of the work. In 2010,
Dever began testing a variety of prepared red hues and arrived at
Napthol Scarlet, and working it into some of the earlier compositions
discovered a surprising range and quantity of tones, all from red,
black, and white alone.
This approach embraces Dever’s interest
in color’s shifting correspondence with matter (black), energy (red),
and light (white). These color phenomena also echo Dever’s studies of
material nature as presented in Samkhya philosophy, Patanjali’s Yoga
Sutras and in the Bhagavad Gita (14.5): Clarity, passion, dark inertia. These are qualities that originate from nature.
Eric Dever
(born, Los Angeles, 1962) studied painting and critical theory at NYU,
Steinhardt, MA’88-studio art. Dever’s work since the early 1990’s has
been exhibited throughout the United States and in France. Recently, he
had a solo exhibition at Berry Campbell Gallery in Chelsea, his work was
also included in the Art Southampton and the Art Silicon Valley/San
Francisco Art Fair, and a major painting was acquired by Guild Hall
Museum in East Hampton. Last summer he delivered a Brain Food talk at
the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill. Dever is represented by Berry Campbell Gallery, New York.
