REIMAGINING NEW MEXICO
MIKE GLIER Bird Songs of the Acequias
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Cover detail: Bird Song at the Acequias, 2019, oil on aluminum panel, 32 x 40 inches Š 2019 Gerald Peters Gallery. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, including photocopying, recording or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
MIKE GLIER Bird Songs of the Acequias
June 28 – August 3, 2019
Inquiries: Evan Feldman, Director (505) 954-5738 | efeldman@gpgallery.com
1005 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | gpgallery.com
MIKE GLIER Bird Songs of the Acequias
Following in the lineage of plein air painters, Mike Glier extends his exploration of the tradition by balancing representational imagery of direct observation with more gesture-based forms of sensory experiences. Conjure up the typical image of a plein air painting and the mind’s eye sees a pleasant mountainscape, a scenic harbor with boats passing in and out of view or perhaps a quiet picnic in the garden. Glier, on the other hand, dismisses these traditional conventions, depicting subjects that are more often hidden. Wind, temperature, sound, and smell––these are the focus and subjects of Glier’s paintings. It is Glier’s attention to these elements that at once situates his work within the canon of art history and sets it apart. Plein air painting developed as the result of the invention of the tube of paint. Equipped with portable paint, 19th-century artists enjoyed new opportunities to work outside the studio and paint outdoors. These early plein air painters, like Glier, sought not only to capture a particular scene or moment but also what was felt in the moment––the changing light and shifts in the wind. In recording these sensory experiences, what distinguishes Glier’s work is his ability to push the boundaries of the practice beyond its common associations towards abstraction and the transcendental. Unexpected shapes, fresh color chords and surprising arrangements slip harmoniously between representational and abstract moments in Glier’s work, capturing the natural world with energy and imagination. Evan Feldman Gerald Peters Gallery
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BIRD SONGS OF THE ACEQUIAS When I go outside to draw and paint I sit for a while to take an inventory of the place. I’m an experienced viewer, so I shut my eyes to give my less trained senses a chance. First, I listen and I often hear birds, insects, wind and planes. Then I pay attention to what my skin is telling me, such as the temperature and the texture of the surface on which I’m sitting, which is too often hard and damp. Next, I pull air through my nose to smell what is near, whether it is sweet, dusty, loamy or spoiled. Finally, I open my eyes to take in the visual array. After registering what I can, I make marks, create shapes and mix colors in response. Drawing from non-visual cues is not as arbitrary as it sounds. Bird song, for example, breaks down into pitch, rhythm and texture, which is translatable to visual imagery. For example, high and low notes are placed accordingly on the page; rhythmic sounds become a sequence of marks that denote the beat; aural textures like raspy or round correspond to jagged or smooth movements of the hand across the page. Color also plays a part. What colors, for example come to mind when the sound is low, round and warm? Or the odor is spicy and sweet? Bird Songs of the Acequias, a suite of paintings, drawings and a print about the landscape of New Mexico, was made with this miraculous kit of perceptual tools that humans enjoy. This series embraces stylistic variety. “The Sound of Wind in Its Ears” for example, is composed of flat planes of overlapping shapes that come from imagination. In contrast “Crow Talk in Tesuque Canyon: New Mexico”, is primarily representational and drawn from direct observation. Since the underlying principles of design are the same for abstraction as they are for representation, stylistic conformity to one style or the other no longer means much. Stylistic variety, however, has the potential to express the diversity of human experience and as such is a more compelling strategy for contemporary art making. When drawing and painting out of doors, there isn’t a break between thinking and doing. In the best moments there is no lag between the movement of the sun and the wind and the response of the pencil and the brush. Stimulus and response becomes one thing and the experience is one of feeling very connected with the subject. It’s a delightful state of being in which what is inside gets thoroughly mixed up with what is outside. This loss of consciousness during moments of deep
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engagement is common and familiar to anyone who has taken a deep dive into reading a book, or cooking a meal, or making love, only to be surprised at just how far away one has been, when swimming back to consciousness, breaking the surface with a shake of the head, to say “Oh, my goodness, where was I? I lost track of time”. These paintings are a record of those kinds of moments and a demonstration of the human potential for a deep kind of empathy. People rarely appear in my paintings of late, and I’m wondering why. This absence might be the result of an outdated, romantic vision in which nature is sublime and independent. Or the result of painting with blinkers in place to create a fantasy of pristine land. Or more positively, a desire to express the beauty I see and the pleasure I feel when I stand in uninhabited places. But there is something else afoot, less recognized, but no less affective, and it’s a fatalistic belief that humankind will soon fail due to the inability to sustain an ecosystem that supports life for large mammals like ourselves. It’s not a thought that comes to consciousness often, since The Sound of Wind in It’s Ears, 2019, oil on paper, 16 x 12 inches I am by day optimistic. But repressed thoughts manifest themselves and mine have been driving some aesthetic decisions about how to represent the human relationship with land. As a result, I am painting pictures in which the human trace is scarce and other living things are given pride of place. It’s a useful trend, I think, in this ecologically challenged time, to de-center the human image from art in order to shift the focus to other living things. Mike Glier June 2019
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Morning Sun: Santa Fe Canyon, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches 8
Stream Crossing on the Columbine Trail: Carson Forest, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches
Joy Arriving: East Fork Jemez River, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 24 x 36 inches
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Arroyo Walk: Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches 10
Crow Talk in Tesuque Canyon: New Mexico, 2019 oil on aluminum panel 32 x 40 inches 11
The Sound of House Finch Nestlings Begging: Tesuque, New Mexico, 2019 oil on paper 12 x 16 inches
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Jackrabbit in the Columbine: Tesuque, New Mexcio, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches
Evening: Tesuque, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches
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Bird Song on the Columbine Trail: Carson Forest, New Mexico, 2019 oil on canvas 33 1/8 x 25 5/8 inches
Tesuque oil on canvas 58 x 95 1/2 inches
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Two House Finches in the Aspen Trees: Taos, New Mexico oil on hardboard 20 x 30 inches 16
Breeze in the Aspen Trees: Carson Forest, New Mexico, 2019 oil on paper 16 x 12 inches
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Breeze in a Poplar Tree: Tesuque Creek, New Mexico, 2019 oil on paper 16 x 12 inches
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Ponderosa 2: Lama, New Mexico oil on hardboard 16 x 12 inches
Ponderosa 3: Lama, New Mexcio oil on hardboard 16 x 12 inches
Ponderosa 4: Lama, New Mexico oil on hardboard 16 x 12 inches
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It Heard a Growl: Santa Fe Canyon, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches
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Bird Song at the Acequia, 2019 oil on aluminum panel 32 x 40 inches
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“Ee Twiddle ee dee, ee Twiddle ee Don’t”: Bird Song at the Acequia.Lama, New Mexico. Version 1, 2019 oil on paper 16 x 12 inches
“Ee Twiddle ee dee, ee Twiddle ee Don’t”: Bird Song at the Acequia. Lama, New Mexico. Version 3, 2019 oil on paper 16 x 12 inches
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Poison Berries: Lama, New Mexico, 2019 oil on paper 12 x 16 inches
Quiet: Lama, New Mexico, 2019 oil on hardboard 14 x 11 inches 24
Pair Bonding: Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexcio, 2019 oil on hardboard 11 x 14 inches
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Sound of the Acequia: Taos, New Mexico, 2019 oil on aluminum panel 40 x 32 inches 26
Inquiries: Evan Feldman, Director (505) 954-5738 | efeldman@gpgallery.com
1005 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | gpgallery.com
1005 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 505 954-5700 | gpgallery.com 28