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Meyer East Gallery
Boulder & Sky: Cubist Meditations on the Southwest by
Painter David Jonason
Santa Fe, NM - The vast cloud-filled skies over Gila
Wilderness, Abiquiu, El Bosque del Apache, Ghost Ranch,
and other iconic destinations throughout the Southwest
are the subject of a new exhibition of paintings by
David Jonason. Titled “Boulder & Sky: Cubist Meditations
on the Southwest,” his first in New Mexico at the Meyer
East Gallery Friday May 28, 2010, with a reception for
the artist 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at 225 Canyon Road, Santa
Fe, NM 87501. Opening May 28, 2010 through June 11, 2010
HIGH RES IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
The new paintings represent an exciting departure for
Jonason, acclaimed for his cubist-inspired
interpretations of architecture. These include Modernist
designs of bungalows in Pasadena, city landmarks of
Portland, Oregon and most recently the churches of New
Mexico. In this latest series, Jonason continues to
explore the cubist visual language he initially
developed for architecture to paint the natural
complexity of landscapes and cloud forms.
Ghost Ranch 30"hx40"wOil on Canvas
“The big, simple volumes of Modernist architecture have
much in common with the massive clouds, mesas, bluffs
and boulders of the Southwest,” he says. “I think tall,
billowing cumulonimbus clouds sometimes have the feeling
of heroic, tall buildings.”
Jonason notes that for centuries, landscape painters
have represented cloud-filled skies in their art.
“Clouds always give a scene a sense of drama no matter
what is happening on the ground,” he says. The artist,
who lived for 10 years in New Mexico, says the broad,
open landscapes of the region provide opportunities to
focus on the bold, simple shapes of rock and sky –
devoid of “fussy details.”
“In the process of painting and intense observation, I
detect unseen patterns in the rocks and clouds and try
to bring these patterns to the surface,” he says.
“There’s a saying here – ‘In New Mexico you live in the
sky.’ – and that’s where everything happens.”
Dusk at Painted Cliffs 24"hx36"w Oil
on Canvas
But Jonason has now turned his eye toward landscapes,
and today his images of clouds hovering gloriously over
architectural landmarks remind us of the billowing, the
looming, the sense of the skies filling with massive
grey clouds against the dramatic orange/red glow of the
sunset.
“It has been a challenge to translate the Cubist
language I developed for architecture to the complexity
of landscapes and cloud forms,” Jonason says of his
latest exhibition. “As an artist, this really is a nice
change of pace for me.”
His choice of locations was prompted by memories of
living in New Mexico; Jonason developed a keen
appreciation and awareness of the sky spanning high
above the flat landscape.
“I don’t like wispy, ethereal clouds. My favorites are
bulky, powerful shapes with volume that make them
similar to architecture,” he says. "I like billowing
cumulonimbus (clouds) a lot. They remind me a lot of
tall buildings -- tall and dense; they have a big,
heroic quality. Architecture is all about volume and I
apply that to the landscapes. At the same time, I'm
trying to get the spiritual, transcendental quality I
feel in landscapes." Jonason notes that for centuries,
landscape painters have represented cloud-filled skies
in their art.
“Clouds always give a scene a sense of drama no matter
what is happening on the ground,” he says.
Jonason’s innovative style -- which he describes as
“Cubism Lite” – employs slashes of light and color to
emphasize the architectural designs, while integrating
elements of both Cubism and Realism into clean lines,
strong forms, and bold uses of color.
His artistic influences include Cubism, Art Deco,
architectural-renderer Hugh Ferriss, and especially the
works of the Precisionist Painters, including Charles
Sheeler and Charles Demuth. This style of painting,
developed in the early 20th Century, reduced elemental
structures and forms and depicted them through a
combination of abstractionism and realism, with often
sharply defined geometrical forms.
Sandoval County 36"hx36"w Oil on
Canvas
Prior to his career in Fine Art, Jonason was an
accomplished commercial artist. He was represented in
the 1980s by PushPin, New York's trend-setting design
and illustration agency. There, he produced coveted
illustrations for Fortune 500 advertising and editorial
clients.
He also worked in television, designing and supervising
the production of graphics segments for “ABC World New
Tonight,” “Nightline,” and “Good Morning America,” among
others.
Meyer East Gallery
225 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
www.meyereastgallery.com
505 983-1657
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