Published on 8/18/2021.
College of the Redwoods presents Imagination and Crisis: New Paintings by Bryce Speed, an exhibition of environmentally themed abstract paintings by Alabama-based artist Bryce Speed. In conjunction with the exhibition, a Zoom gallery walk-through and live Q&A by the artist will take place on Monday, August 30 from 6:00 - 7:30pm Pacific Time. Visit https://www.redwoods.edu/artgallery/ to register for this free public event.
In describing the paintings and large-scale wall works in this exhibition, the artist Bryce Speed asserts that the natural world provides many visual analogies for the great depth and mysteries of the human mind. His paintings metaphorically illustrate the fluid topographies, discontinuous scales, and subjective color relationships of the evolving self in relationship to a changing climate. In particular, his imagery references our planet’s increasingly stressed and provisional water systems. The artist also embraces the possibility that painting can connect form and idea via a visual language unique to the medium.
Bryce Speed has taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Metropolitan Community College, and is currently Associate Professor of Art in Painting at the University of Alabama.
He has exhibited in numerous exhibitions, including at Valdosta State University in GA, HERE Art Center in New York City, the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, North Wall Arts Center in Oxford, UK, and the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, NC. In 2006 and 2011, his work was selected for publication in New American Paintings Southeastern and Western editions.
The College of the Redwoods Art Gallery is currently open by appointment to limited numbers of visitors. To visit the exhibition or for further information, email the Arts and Humanities Division Office at Laura-Meglemre@redwoods.edu or call (707) 476-4559.
Captions for images:
- Bryce Speed, The Well, 2021, Acrylic on Panel, 8” x 8”
- Bryce Speed, Gulf Beacons, 2021, Acrylic on Muslin, 90” x 90”
- Bryce Speed, X Marks the Spot, Acrylic on Muslin, 2021, 60” x 15’
- Bryce Speed, Water Fall, Acrylic and Oil on Panel, 2020, 9” x 12”