Part color abstractionist and part quixotic alchemist, Paul Jeanes’ brings a glowing and vibrant experience to the Gibbs Street Gallery at VisArts with his paintings. The last day to see the exhibition is Friday, May 25.
Paul Jeanes’ artist talk, “Exploring an Alchemical Approach to Painting” took place on Thursday, May 10 from 7:00-8:30 pm at VisArts. It was a great opportunity to hear an eloquent description of the process of painting by a thoughtful emerging artist. Jeanes explained his experimental processes with dripping, pouring, glazing, and scraping in order to build thinly layered hallucinatory paintings where fleeting gestures and turbulent chromatic atmospheres are at once illuminated and obscured.
Jeanes referred to James Elkins as an inspirational artist/writer who has written about the relationship between painting and alchemy. This is a position that Jeanes can relate to. He expressed his desire to make paintings that "burn with light". In addition, Jeanes cited Rembrandt, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin and Grace Hartigan as extremely influential in his development as a painter. As daylight gave way to darkness, the group in attendance witnessed the shifting, chromatic transformations of his paintings currently on view. An enthusiastic audience walked with the artist through the gallery and had the opportunity to ask thought-provoking questions.
Paul Jeanes lives and works in Baltimore, MD. He is a full-time faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Jeanes received his BFA at the University of North Carolina Asheville and MFA at the Hoffberger School of Painting at The Maryland Institute College of Art.
The Arousing will be on view until Friday, May 25. Gallery hours are noon to 9:00 pm. Wednesday through Friday and noon to 5:00 pm. Saturday and Sunday.
During June and July, VisArts will host a number of artist talks and presentations. Come meet the artists and spend the evening with them. All these events are free and open to the public.
For more info on the upcoming artist talks and exhibitions, visit our Exhibitions page.
