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Visions That The Plants Gave UsRick Harlow This series of paintings, based on these experiences, expands on Harlow's exquisite sense of color, pattern, and dramatic tonal contrasts. These works show "his propensity for abstractly rendered landscape. Instead of focusing on specific places or events, these works delve into an abstract interpretation of the spiritual meanings inherent in these people's endangered beliefs and rituals." (Stapen, Boston Globe, November 21, 1991) These nearly abstract compositions, bursting with light, color, and form, reveal Harlow's connection to life in the dense rain forest of Colombia. The great versatility in his use of pain is evident in all his work – "blurry washes, cracked-earth surfaces, palette-knife puttyings, brush loading, dragging and feathering, finger painting." (Carlock, Lincoln Journal, March 1987) Measuring nine and ten feet across or high, his canvases resemble vast worlds in themselves but none identical. It is through this synthesis of paint and natural forms that the works become a visual and spiritual line between the natural and man-made worlds.
-- Clark Gallery, In the exhibition: Return to Visions That The Plants Gave Us
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© SLU, 2/3/98
Designed and maintained by: Carole Mathey St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York Last updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2001 |