David Syre: Watercolors
Cordata Gallery, Bellingham, WA
April 2 – August 27, 2022
Watercolor dates back to the beginning of civilization. Primitive man mixed pigments with water to paint on cave walls. Ancient Egyptians used water-based paint on decorations and papyrus papers. The masters in the Far East, with their exquisite style of inkwork, calligraphy, and silk paintings, brought watercolor closer to the modern art form we recognize today. In both Chinese and Japanese traditional watercolors, the landscape was the major inspiration and subject for artists, both physically and philosophically.
In the West, watercolor began to be more widely used by artists following the development of sophisticated paper manufacturing techniques in the late 16th century. Initially, watercolors were used to create luminosity in “tinted drawings,” typically landscapes. These characteristics shaped Western watercolor painting for centuries to come: Albrecht Dürer used watercolor both for sketching and as washes over his prints. Dürer’s use of a watercolor wash is most recognizable in the sentimental landscapes he created in the style of ancient Eastern masters.
Use of watercolor first flourished in19th century America among masters like James, Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Thomas Eakins. These artists paved the way for modern and contemporary artists who found their voice in watercolor studies; among them Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Paul Klee, and most prominent, Vassily Kandinsky.
David Syre’s fascination with watercolor is rather recent. Syre is an instinctive explorer of means of expression and continues to experiment with new techniques. His watercolors are as evocative and striking as his previous work -- cultivated by a mindful presence and a time and detail-oriented approach.
In Syre’s watercolors, brisk gestures are overcome by an introspective study and application of this new skill. These works are unforgiving and sometimes treacherous. Syre honors the fundamentals of watercolor painting in combination with his expertise in drawing. In Sacred Space (2021), for example, Syre incorporates hues of green and blue, working with the colors’ flowy quality into the paper’s pores, resulting in a highly abstract vision of nature. The sharp black lines added in a second moment confer to the colored surface those details that invite the viewer to decide whether they are looking at a traditional landscape, a fantasy world, or a map from above.
Following in the footsteps of the grand schools of watercolor, Syre’s greatest inspiration is the landscape. Hints of Syre’s connection to the landscape were present in his earlier work, often depicted through Syre’s trademark use of complex layers of paint. The depicted or envisioned landscape has long been a central space in Syre’s artmaking and his impressions of landscape painting in his watercolors are now even more evident, almost as direct references to the old masters like Dürer and Sargent.
Syre’s focus on detail also translates in more than one way. While his technique changes in relation to the medium, his subjects gain new meaning. Like the analytic Cubists of the early 20th century, who dissected their motifs into fragments of multiple viewpoints and planes, Syre forms his landscapes both frontal and aerial: A seemingly simple panorama of the countryside, after further attention and reflection by the viewer, turns into a bird's eye view of the same land with cartographic attributes. In Love Birds (2021), light and transparent splashes of color are accompanied by simple lines, almost as if herding them into a manifestation of a two-fold reality -- a landscape and a map.
The innovation of method and technique, albeit seemingly routine, is a milestone in Syre’s expansive career as it connotes a deep and revealing reformation. To date, Syre’s work has been bold and fast-paced, consisting of thick and expressive strokes of paint on canvas and moment-focused drawings. This visual renewal with watercolors reveals a change of direction in Syre’s career as an artist.
Syre’s new body of work exhibits a deep commitment to his field. Through his watercolors, Syre’s past and present experiences smoothly blend as color pigments dissolve in water, displaying at once on a two-dimensional plane Syre’s multiple views of nature, life, and art.
This exhibition is curated by Cordata Gallery in Bellingham, WA.
Cordata Gallery
465 W Stuart Rd
98226 Bellingham, WA
www.cordatagallery.com | info@cordatagallery.com
Tue-Sat from 11 to 4, and by appointment.
