Brad Price’s exhibition of new work at Santa Fe’s Meyer Gallery is called The Spirit of Place. The place is Northern New Mexico, a place he and his wife have grown to love and where they enjoy “snow skiing, backpacking and hiking, collecting art together and enjoying the culture and cuisine.” They make four or five trips a year from their home in Norman, Oklahoma.
La Mesilla, oil on canvas, 24 x 30”
“When I paint, I am transported back to a place where I have been,” he says, “a place that I have enjoyed. I feel the breeze and hear the clacking sound of the aspen leaves. I am there again through my work; I invite others to be there with me and enjoy the spirit of that place. As I enjoy saying, ‘I think that art is experience and the sharing of experience. It is creating something new and beautiful for the world. It is sharing a moment with others.’”
Price leads the viewer through his paintings with distinct brushstrokes that “tend to follow nature and the way things grow. They also ‘point the way,’ or suggest the movement of the eye through the composition. Being unblended, they have the look of pastel strokes but I only work in oil.”
Chama Cliffs, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
Pueblo on the Peak, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
The individual strokes lie unblended, next to each other. He explains, “Every stroke of color influences and changes every other stroke that it touches. They change the hue, value, brilliance and distance of one another. For this reason, I do not blend color with the brush, I let the eye blend the color because the colors become brighter and more alive. Simultaneous colors—colors that are complementary and of the same value—make one another vibrate.”
“When I look at the world around me, I see the hand of a creator,” he continues. “I think an artist can always be seen in his body of work. For this reason, I want my art to be honest.I paint what I love, and the viewer of my work can share in that expression of love. They can see what inspires me and know something of me through it. Going to New Mexico is a bit like taking a pilgrimage. I always travel there with the expectation that in some small way, my life will be changed.”
The Spirit of Place opens November 5 and continues through November 18. —
Upcoming Show
Up to 12 works
November 5-18, 2021
Meyer Gallery
225 Canyon Road, #14, Santa Fe, NM 87501,
(505) 983-1434, www.meyergalleries.com
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