December/January
Artist: Pier Wright
This exhibit is a collection of 62 pieces, each made in acrylic pieces of Duralar and assembled collage-style. These minimalist pieces of art simplistically represent complex ideas and are a vibrant representation of inner struggle.
These pieces are truly one of a kind, and you don’t want to miss the chance to visit the Deo Gallery to see them. Located at the Peter White Public Library, the exhibit will be up until the end of January with the opening reception on December 12th alongside the Peter White Public Library’s Winter Wonderland Walk.
Full Artist Statement:
The 62 paintings included in this exhibit are each approximately 8” x 6”, acrylic on pieces on Duralar, assembled collage-style, adhered together with Golden acrylic polymer and matte medium, mounted on panel.
They all begin as puzzles and I am always trying to put the pieces together in such a way that, in the end, surprises me, inspiring a brief moment of child-like innocence. I constantly strive to express complex ideas simply which, for me, is the hardest thing one can do. Finished paintings and poems are meant to look “easy” but they are almost always the result of a great struggle.
Poetry painting has always been and continues to be an investigation into my own ignorance, an act of self-discovery in which not knowing results is its own unique kind of knowledge.
Influences include Tantric painting, the poetry of Conrad Hilberry & Diane Seuss, Prayer Wheel, Chris Martin, Mary Heilmann, early Roman glass, Terry Winters, George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, Fairfield Porter, Michael Delp, John Cage (“begin anywhere”!), standing before Monet’s Water Lilies at Musée de L’Orangerie, Ornette Coleman, every road I’ve ever taken with Nancy, Philip Guston’s late paintings, Giotto, Joni Mitchell, Brice Marden “Etchings to Rexroth”, solo piano (Keith Jarrett, Myra Melford, Brian Fielding’s late night recordings, Chick Corea’s Piano Improvisations 1 & 2, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, etc..), Phyllida Barlow, the first poetry reading I ever attended & have never forgotten; Robert Bly’s “Silence In The Snowy Fields”, Bly’s leaping poetry, Isamu Noguchi, the ceramic works of Toshiko Takaezu, C.D. Wright, Ron Gorchov, Stephen Dunn… along with every single artist I follow on Instagram.
Pier Wright is a Michigan-based artist whose abstract works explore form, texture, and visual rhythm. With a career spanning over three decades, Wright’s art has been showcased in prestigious galleries and exhibitions worldwide, from Chicago to Cologne, Seoul, and beyond. His innovative use of materials and bold exploration of abstraction has earned him recognition in international art fairs and curated group exhibitions.
