The Progression of Paint.

1 November – 21 November 2010. Belgravia Gallery. London.

Recent paintings by Paul Chizik.

Paul Chizik considers himself primarily as a painter and then an artist. As a painter, he is concerned with the rheology of the change in shape of matter, thus the flow and plasticity of paint.  Although the subject matter is considered,  and not coincidental, it is secondary to the rheology of paint, and its application.

The historical importance of landscape painting is addressed in this show but within a modern context. The painterly effects of light and colour created by the suffocating atmosphere of pollution,  found in industrial and urban landscapes,  is juxtaposed with the collection of airy, rural and pastoral landscapes. The revival and  introduction of soft pastel painting is new to this show and it’s effects can be seem directly on the oil canvases.

At first glance this current body of work may be considered a deviation from previous paintings. However, the use of light, colour, and texture remains consistent. Sometimes brooding and foreboding, other times light and luminous. The work focuses on how a single painted image can be cinematic and theatrical.

For a complete listing of paintings on view, please see Recent Work.

Looking east from the Iona Beach Causeway, Vancouver.  B.C. Canada, the wind suddenly came up and large clouds started to accumulate over McDonald Slough. It was short but breathtaking.

I quickly started to lay in the big shapes of the main cloud because I knew that the shape would change  and not last long.

I started to mass in the dark grays using both long and shorter brushstrokes. I used a blue gray for the mid tones and white silvery hues for the lights within the large shape in a bravado manner. In the lights I had the Yellow Ochre Imprematura (ground color) show through in sections. This strong earth tone helped to tone the brights down and enrich the darks. Painted on a prepared oil ground board, the brilliancy of the ground added to the luminosity of the painting. The slippery quality of the board aided the looseness and flow of the paint application.

Using a range of Cerulean Blue and Cobalt Blue with Alizarin Crimson and Raw Umber the sky and distant mountains was realized.

A simplified elongated blue gray was used to interpret the strip of water. The green grays of the landmass was painted with swift dashes.

This plein-air painting was all about the weight and movement of the cloud, the rest of the landscape was supportive but  secondary.