Born from years of experimentation with landscape and cityscapes, Art Sherwyn’s most recent works are inspired by the towns of Bakersfield and Cambria. Art took to the streets for several months with his drawing pencil and sketchpad, searching for unique and engaging perspectives. These works were inspired by the many abstract shapes, patterns and designs generated by the buildings’ windows, roof lines, stairs, doorways, and signage which adorn the architecture – views the normal eye might miss. He celebrated those views with engaging and often intense color schemes, intricate line work and implied textures.
Cambria Center for the Arts (Art Sherwyn Exhibition, 2021)
“Art Sherwyn’s most recent work combines vibrant colors with his love for storytelling. His incorporation of calligraphic mark-making resonates with the lives and characters of those who live in the scenes painted. Each work becomes a commemorative anecdote of the community in which Sherwyn calls home. Beginning the series in 2018, this body of work differs in scale and material, challenging the artist’s forty-year practice. Continuity lies in the artist’s notable gestural lines, which move in and out of his subjects, creating interest and enforcing Sherwyn’s lifelong dedication to the arts and its ability to document the complexities of humanity.
After witnessing newfound energy in Bakersfield’s urban core revitalization, Sherwyn spent half a year exploring the streets with pencil and sketch pad looking for compelling compositions. The sketches went back to the studio and became small colored compositions that would morph into the paintings on display in this exhibition. Each composition is constructed with a deliberate denying of preconceived notions and formal articulation; perspective and scale are manipulated to energize and distort the imagery. Once the painting’s structure is finalized, intuition takes over as color, marks, and patterns are negotiated spontaneously. As an educator and lecturer, Sherwyn employs the term “Uncommon Path” to define an essential attitude for creativity to flourish. Whether used strategically or intuitively, the process of making becomes one of discovery. Within this path lies a symbiotic collaboration between the artist and his work. ”
Bakersfield Museum of Art (https://www.bmoa.org/exhibition/uncommon-perspective)
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