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sara nightingale gallery

 

688 Montauk Highway

PO Box 1061

Water Mill,NY 11976

631.726.0076

www.saranightingale.com

sara@saranightingale.com

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Perennial Histories: New Paintings by Eric Dever

 

"...Dever experiments with the properties of paint while mining his subject,

perennial flora...Alternating marks, drips, and painted lines are applied on a modernist

scaffolding..."

 

March 19 -April 18,2005

opening reception: Saturday, March 19, 5-7:00 pm

hours:11-5:00 daily, or by appointment

 

In his recent work, including the 12 oil paintings in this show, Eric Dever experiments with the properties of paint while mining his subject, perennial flora commonly found on the East End of Long Island where the artist lives and works. Alternating marks, drips, and painted lines are applied on a modernist scaffolding of horizontal bands, creating an all over composition. Analogous and complementary colors energize each square canvas, revealing layered histories and subtle surfaces. Tracey Bashkoff, associate curator of the Guggenheim Museum, likened Dever’s work to Ellsworth Kelley’s early compositions. His paintings also recall the grids and spatial organization of Agnes Martin.

 

Dever is interested in techniques that embrace accident, degrees of liquidness, choosing painterly complexity and repetition, ultimately creating his own universe in paintings that are both taut and elegant.

 

Sara Nightingale Gallery established in 1998 specializes in emerging and mid-career artists with an emphasis on conceptual art. Mediums exhibited include painting, photography, video, digital media, sculpture and a variety of prints and works on paper.