The new exhibition, “Eurythmic Light: American Pastoral Landscapes” by Brian Keeler presents an artistic consideration of the theme of impermanence.

 

The passing of time and a way of life is represented by barns, old houses, even fauna and flora.  So, there is a certain historical wistfulness inherent in them of an American golden era that exists only in vestigial form and it represents the impermanence and fragility of life.

 

Impermanence, as a underlying contemplation for painting, has been a running theme in Keeler’s work. The history of this genre is steeped in the idea of temporality. The objects of still life, depicting the  fruit and flowers as transient items are often combined with other objects of mortality, like skulls. 

The fragility of life is portrayed using  effects of fugitive, beautiful light and  passing clouds over barns and Victorian era homes. This brings the landscape genre into appreciation of the fragility of life. Rusting tractors, plows, and cars and other artifacts underscore the eventual entropy and passing of all things.