"Large Gridish #25" Contemporary Multimedia Abstract Painting by G. Campbell Lyman

Description

Artist’s Statement: “As I often do, I chose a very simple form to work with in this series of paintings … more Artist’s Statement: “As I often do, I chose a very simple form to work with in this series of paintings – a grid of rectangles. It was some Sean Scully forms I was thinking of when I started these. Content never interests me much, and I don’t spend time thinking about it. I’m interested in the balance of assonant and dissonant colors, line quality, texture and impasto, push and pull, these sorts of issues. Making the paintings is a series of minute decisions about addition and subtraction that goes on for a long time, even if the result looks deceptively simple. It’s never simple to do. These have been selling here in New Orleans before I have been able to list them, so I have been pulling out select ones to show only online, so that collectors of my work elsewhere and new folks get a chance to see them."

On professional gallery-wrapped canvas, ready for hanging.

(On prior series by the artist): “These paintings are a refreshing departure from the current abstract art world’s seemingly endless parade of fields of color with scribbles providing form, a style that is easily mimicked and has become a sort of “safe,” accessible go-to. There are confident decisions in these paintings appearing as commitments of strongly delineated forms and unexpected collisions of color that give the work a visceral, confident and playful soul, increasingly missing from contemporary expressionist abstraction. They are the paintings of a real painter rather than a decorative artist.”

ArtSeen, 2018

“Lyman’s work evolves restlessly, with the common elements generally being deft and unusual color choices that balance assonance and dissonance, and vestiges of the hand and facture purposely left in the paintings. The negative space is often so meticulously worked that it’s almost as if the objects – usually simple shapes – are there as much to complement the background as vice versa. Despite the often bold colors there is an elegance about his paintings that prevents them from being loud or decorative. "

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