NATURAL RHYTHMS
NATURAL RHYTHMS Paintings by David T. Kessler & Jim Waid
Bentley Gallery Exhibition November 15th 2019-January 10th 2020
This time of year in Arizona is sublime as the temperature cools and the desert magically transforms. During this vibrant period, Bentley Gallery is pleased to announce Natural Rhythms, a two-person show featuring work by David T. Kessler and Jim Waid. Both artists have explored the delicate wonder of nature for decades. Their work reveals a heightened sense of our desert environment through skilled mark making and exceptional technique. In these artists’ masterful hands, one does not merely view the landscape; it becomes an experience. For over twenty years, David T Kessler has followed a Photo-Realist tradition, using acrylic and airbrush to vivify his landscapes, often the Arizona desert where he lives. These highly complex and consummately crafted paintings have drawn the attention of collectors and curators from all over the country. Kessler’s paintings invoke and utilize both the Romantic response to nature, one that eulogizes the sublime, awe-inspiring vista and the Classical response to landscape, which is lyrical and domesticated. Jim Waid creates abstract worlds saturated with color, layered with mark, filled with rhythm and movement, and intricately textured. His canvases barely contain the landscape painted upon them; lush with growth they invite the viewer to explore the space. The artist said of his work, “I don’t want the paintings to be like you’re looking at a landscape. I want them to feel like you’re in it.” Initially the paintings seem nonrepresentational, however, they slowly reveal themselves to be made up of organic textures, abstracted natural forms, and the desert landscape. They convey a sense of nature, without the specificity of traditional landscape painting.
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David T. Kessler
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Prismatic Current acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 4
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Autumn Laced Cadence acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 6
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Mirrored Outcrop acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 8
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Pond Calligraphy acrylic on brushed aluminum 44 x 64 inches 2019 10
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Backlit Eddy acrylic on brushed aluminum 64 x 44 inches 2019 12
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Pond Rings acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 14
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Prismatic Overspill acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 16
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Storm Drift acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 18
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Silvered Outcrop acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 20
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Ponds Edge acrylic on brushed aluminum 48 x 72 inches 2019 22
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Mystic Mystique acrylic on brushed aluminum 60 x 86 inches 2019 24
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Jim Waid
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Darkling acrylic on canvas 72 x 84 inches 2019 28
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Rustler pastel on paper 24.5 x 29 inches 2019 30
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Fool Moon acrylic on canvas 66 x 84 inches 2019 32
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Sea Ania Study #1 mixed media on paper 13 x 20 inches 2019 34
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Rosy Fingered Dawn pastel on paper 19.5 x 29 inches 2019 36
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Jabberwocky acrylic on canvas 66 x 84 inches 2019 38
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Lush Life acrylic on canvas 52 x 44 inches 2019 40
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Matador acrylic on canvas 60 x 72 inches 2019 42
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Alabaster Garden mixed media on paper 12.75 x 16 inches 2019 44
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Night Jar acrylic, pastel, monoprint on paper 22 x 30 inches 2019 46
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Windrush acrylic on canvas 40 x 60 inches 2018 48
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Fault Lines acrylic on canvas 68 x 95 inches 2019 50
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Bell Canto acrylic on canvas 60 x 60 inches 2019 52
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Cerise Springs mixed media on paper 24 x 30 inches 2019 54
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Catapult acrylic on canvas 48 x 42 inches 2019 56
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Jamboree acrylic on canvas 57 x 89 inches 2019 58
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Macaw acrylic on canvas 40 x 60 inches 2019 60
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Raspados acrylic on canvas 48 x 42 inches 2019 62
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Mariachi acrylic on canvas 49 x 60 inches 2019 64
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Micaceous mixed media on paper (pastel on pigment print) 20 x 30 inches 2019 66
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