Join us for the opening reception for "Psychic Reader: Narratives of the Sea", by Bryce Speed. The reception and artist visit is free and open to the public. The exhibition will continue through March 29. Refreshments will be served.
Bryce Speed was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In 1999, he earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Mississippi and in 2005 he graduated with an MFA in Painting from the University of Alabama. Bryce has taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is currently Assistant Professor of Art in Painting at the University of Alabama.
Bryce’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions over the past several years. In 2006 and 2011 his work was selected for publication in New American Paintings Southeastern and Western editions. In 2014, he held a solo exhibition at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA and was part of a three-person exhibition at HERE Art Center in New York, NY, titled Suburbia: Is Anyone There? In 2015-16 he exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland and at the Visual Art Exchange’s Contemporary South Exhibition in Raleigh, NC during 2016. In 2017, he had a solo exhibition at the North Wall Arts Center in Oxford, UK. Bryce is represented by the Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans, LA.
Artist's Statement
"I intertwine memory and personal narrative with imagined worlds creating intriguing and surreal environments. The new work created for this project builds on my current methods of creating paintings that are visually and conceptually layered. Once a painting begins, I work in the moment, usually with an initial thought or idea and remain open to the sequence that follows. Improvisation balanced with research has been key to my work.
I am a visual problem solver who invites the challenges of working with imagery and ideas that can only be visualized as painting; this often leading to new and exciting processes that investigate contradictions concerning life’s fragility.
Often within my work, images of nature and the synthetic merge, creating an ambiguity of space where forms can reference both the stability and instability of identity. Forces of nature, like water, fire, and wind invade and sometimes destroy these places. Destruction paired with the resilient forms of nature serves as a metaphor for the evolving self. For myself, painting is about trying to understand the changing environments we inhabit.
Language further helps us understand our interactions in the world, but is limited in scope to define all of our meaning and interactions. The acts of writing and painting are close to experiencing a passage from the unperceived or unconscious into the conscious, present moment."
Friday Feb 8, 2019
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CST
Friday, February 8, 2019
6-8 P.M.
The Walnut Gallery, (256) 328-2836