Texas born painter Rick Lewis grew up in the Gulf of Mexico coastal region.

Not all art is immediately accessible to the eye and the mind for the best art requires that one open up their emotions and imagination to all the potential of revelation and observation beyond the mundane, beyond the quotidian experiences that rule society generally. Such is the case in the abstract landscapes by Rick Lewis, an artist who has fixed his memories at the heart of his art.

— Ian Findlay Brown
Editor
Asian Art News

I believe that my direct connection with the ecology of the Gulf Coast was pivotal to the early formulation of my aesthetic. There is a strange and wonderful mixture of Native American, French Acadian, African American, and Mexican cultures that contributes to the land’s vibration. I was lucky enough to experience the crossing over of so many religions and belief systems.  Animism, Catholicism, Mysticism, Voodoo … It is all there, and is inextricably tied to the land.

For me, imagery seems to make itself known through perception of  a thing or through remembered experience. The natural environment is the only source that provides the metaphors for the way that abstract paintings work. We don’t have language to help us deal with abstract images. Paintings should take you way beyond any singular subject matter. I like the sense that everything is available.

The work is born out of relationships to or qualities within nature that connect with my psyche. Art is often referred to as a reflection of nature in both Eastern and Western culture. Man being part of nature rather than subjugating it is not a new idea. We seem to sometimes forget this basic tenet of being human. Paul Klee said that paintings in and of themselves are nature. Nature from which the materials and support came, nature is the artist’s hand, nature as dialogue with the viewer, resulting in an image as a reminder of not who but what we are.

My artistic life is something akin to the surfaces in the paintings: aqueous, fluid, non-linear, ever changing.

— Rick Lewis

Rick Lewis’ influences include Alberto Burri, Texan visionary painter Forrest Bess, Joan Miro, Paul Klee, Antoni Tapies, Eastern calligraphy, and Eastern philosophy.  He is a recipient of the Carol Cook Memorial Foundation Arts Award for excellence in painting and several artist in Residency awards including, The Millay Colony Residency in Austerlitz, NY and The Bali Purnati Center for the Arts in Bali, Indonesia. He was twice awarded residencies to  The Edward F. Albee Foundation in Montauk, NY.

Rick Lewis exhibits in New York, Texas, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.  His work is held in numerous public and private collections throughout the world.

Rick Lewis’ work has been shown at  Steven Amedee Gallery, Albright-Knox Museum, and Kouros Gallery in New York, McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC), Kristy Stubbs Gallery, and Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Texas,  Mount Airy Contemporary in Philadelphia, Sin Sin Fine Art,  Galerie – Martini in Hong Kong,  ART BASEL Hong Kong  and other venues.

Rick Lewis currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

 

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