Raw Beauty: Recent Paintings by Zachariah Rieke at Wade Wilson Art January 26, 2012

Wade Wilson Art is pleased to announce the opening of Raw Beauty: Recent Paintings by Zachariah Rieke.

Reception for the Artist :: 6 - 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 26, 2012
On view through February 25, 2012 during gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 5

Zachariah Rieke was born and raised in Kansas and has a prolific resume in studies and teaching including institutions such as University of Alberta. During his forty-five-plus years of painting, Rieke has been featured in many galleries across the United States including a retrospective at the New Mexico Museum of Art where his wife’s work, Gale Rieke, was also featured.

In this new series of paintings, Zachariah Rieke uses his predominately monochromatic aesthetic that speaks through movement of the paint and medium. The artist thins much of the pain so that it stains directly into the surface of the canvas. In large part, the forms are created by the alluvial action of pigment deposited on tides of water. His work has always focused on the metaphysical, a never-ending inquiry into the nature of the universe around him and his role within this universe. His painting is propelled by the pursuit of an unreachable sublime, a profound paradox strongly centered in Kiekegaard’s “leap of faith.”

Each movement on the canvas is indelible and a recording of the journey of the paint. The result is paintings that are vibrant and full of life. The artist writes: “My work is, and has always been, about discovery. On occasion I have spoken of the act of painting and the resultant completed work in terms of cartography: If painting is truly an act of exploration, then no map is followed, but rather the painting itself becomes the map, recording the paths that one has taken to its completion. My own method of painting entails finding the image in the course of working. The current body of work is purposefully rough and direct. There is a certain ‘poetry’ hopefully. The dichotomy is between the forceful application of the major movements and the subtle nuances resulting for the most part from incidental (as opposed to accidental) markings.”

Wade Wilson Art is located at 4411 Montrose, Houston, 77006. For more information, please call 713.521.2977 or visit: www.wadewilsonart.com.

Official Website: http://www.wadewilsonart.com/