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Jerry
Van
Up Close and Personal with Wonders of Nature
If
first impressions are any indication of deeper, longer-lasting
appeal, the paintings of Jerry Van are certain to continue attracting
the best kinds of attention. In his first one person show, Jerry
offers up an enticing array of large format paintings of plants
and animals interpreted in two distinctly different ways. About
half his paintings are tightly focused, intimate portrayals of
the phenomenal patterns and colors of flowers, leaves, cacti,
and other glorious forms in nature. Deeply moved by the variety
and inherently astonishing beauty of his subjects, Van combines
photographic accuracy with artistic manipulation to compose high-impact
portraits of external beauty and underlying life force. The other
half of Van’s artistic output arises from this painter’s
passionate interest in impressionist theory. Breaking up the components
of color, illumination, and form into more spontaneous but no
less organized works, Van is able to convey both the artist’s
emotional impressions and the impressions of light on his subjects.
The oldest
of 4 brothers, Van had minimal formal art education while growing
up in Lakewood, Colorado. His irrepressible urge to draw the
things that interested him and impressed him has steered him
gradually and inexorably toward the success he is just now beginning
to enjoy as a painter. During his four years in the Air Force,
Van worked in communications technology, but also augmented
the domestic art exposure he had sought from books and museums
with informal observation and practice in Asia and Europe. On
returning to the U.S., Van enrolled in a business school, but
couldn’t resist the pull of art. He began working in fine
art foundries, first in Loveland then in Santa Fe. Building
armatures for well-known and highly successful sculptors only
stoked Van’s desire to find his own creative voice.
In 1999,
a classically-trained painter from Romania, Laila Ionesco was
painting at Domani Foundry and Studio in Santa Fe, where Van
worked as foundry assistant. Ionesco noticed Van’s rapt
interest, let him watch her work for about an hour, and then
set up a still life for him to paint. A combination of her good
guidance and Van’s prior drawing experience made him a
natural. Surprised by the joy of the experience, Van was also
encouraged by the prompt sale of his first oil painting. He
began painting more and doing less foundry work, selling steadily
via referrals from collectors and other informal channels, all
the while trying to build up a large enough body of work for
an inaugural showing.
That first
show happens in summer, 2006 at the Hideaway in Lone Butte,
NM, a charming spot on Highway 14, just southwest of Santa Fe.
Soft-spoken, taciturn, Van is the consummate observer. His quiet
nature and man-of-few-words persona are direct opposites the
confident, eloquent voice he has found in his paintings. Who
would have guessed that the burly, bronze-hefting foundry guy
would have so great and expressive an appreciation for the delicacy
of stamens, pistils, petals, and the fleeting, but powerful
beauty of the blossoms that possess them? Few will believe it
the first exhibition by an artist of this sensitivity and vision.
Most will agree; it won’t be his last.
Wolfgang
Mabry
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