GARY BREWER: DESERT MUSE
11.01.25 – 01.10.26
Life is an incomprehensible mystery. The forces that have shaped the infinite variations of living things are vast and our understanding of what we see as reality is a mercurial, shape-shifting phenomenon.
My paintings and sculptures express my deep love of life and a desire to engage in articulating a spectrum of forms, revealing a glimpse of the metaphysical order in life’s rich pageant.
Inherent in each of the subjects in my paintings or in the abstract biomorphic shapes of my ceramic sculptures, there is a quality that conveys the tenacity and complexity of this animate universe.
Orchids, corals, gold formations and lichens are a part of the lexicon of images that I use. In each of these organic forms, we see something that instantly engages our mind, bodies and imagination. The animated character of these shapes has intrigued me for years. They express in their elemental designs, a life force that begets the complex unfolding of our world, adapting and metamorphosing to flourish in an ever-changing environment.
– Gary Brewer
Ceramic Sculptures
I discover the shapes of my ceramic sculptures through touch. I do not preconceive a design for these works. Each ceramic piece is informed from deep somatic memories: the feel of the world around us and within. Touch and intuition guide my hands. These biomorphic forms are related to my paintings. Corals, lichens, and other life forms that have been the subject matter of my paintings for decades, have found their way into my sculptures.
In my ceramics, I create forms that speak of the élan vital that animates life. The patterns and colors of my glazes echo those of the orchids and other biomorphic forms found in my paintings.
The kiln firing of my ceramic pieces adds a volcanic, geological element to the process that is poetic; it is an expression of the ineffable unpredictability of life itself.
Gary Brewer, 2024
…
Excerpt from Artillery Magazine review of solo show “Voluptuous Charm of the Monumental Impulse, Wonzimer, 2022
“While Brewer’s paintings are vividly floral in form, the ceramic sculptures resemble many natural life forms at once: parts of flowers, intimate explorations of pods and seeds ready to sprout, and mysterious sea creatures. In Morphic Resonance, a lapis lazuli blue is topped with a lush spill of white, as if snow or sea foam dusted this flora. Lyrical Geology is almost animal-like in form, recalling a sea horse, snail, or perhaps an interplanetary horse’s head. Earth Sea Memory is clearly a work taken from the sea, coral-like in its deep gem blue and soft salmon encrusted with patterned white. Whether created in oil or watercolor or in ceramic, Brewer’s work here is hypnotically lovely.
Genie Davis
Excerpt from Art and Cake review of solo show “Voluptuous Charm of the Monumental Impulse, Wonzimer, 2022
“Brewer has also ventured into uncharted territory here as he presents a series of new sculptural forms. Employing titles like “Journey of the Heart,” and “Nautilus of Desire,” these unique forms further support the artist’s interest in the expansiveness of human longing. Resembling sea anemones, these strangely alluring biomorphic shapes employ the same deep pinks, purples and blues as the accompanying paintings and further suggest a multiplicity of oddly satisfying idiosyncratic unions.”
Eve Wood