John Zurier: Stars Without Distance at Peter Blum on Grand Street through November 11
Like a Zen master, Zurier makes paintings that seem at once effortless, and impossible. In their spare lyricism, these works breathe with light and space, and yet remain utterly physical, paint scumbled and scraped into the nubby linen substrate. The painting is regarded as a sensual object, every nuance considered. Minuscule elements such as isolated spots of color or faint straight lines take on monumental importance, moments of punctuation in compositions that float as close to nothingness as possible. Zurier's color evokes an atmosphere of longing, as though to transcend the constraints of material, while reveling in its brittle tactility.
John Zurier, Late Afternoon in Three Parts (Elsewhere), 2017, glue-size tempera on linen, 84 x 58 inches
John Zurier, Late Afternoon in Three Parts (Elsewhere), 2017, detail
John Zurier, Hvasst, 2017, glue-size tempera & oil on linen, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8 inches
John Zurier, Brim, 2017, oil on linen, 90 x 60 inches
John Zurier, Taktur, 2017, oil on linen, 35 x 46 inches
John Zurier, Taktur, 2017, detail
John Zurier, Hljoo 2017, glue-size tempera on linen, 90 x 52 inches
John Zurier, Dalalaeda (Seyoisfjorour), 2016, glue-size tempera & oil on linen, 30 x 20 inches
John Zurier: Stars Without Distance, Peter Blum Gallery, NYC (image from gallery website)
