Barry H. Gillespie, a teacher at one of elephant’s favorite local world class yoga studios, will be holding a show of his work throughout August, here in Boulder.  We’re happy to announce this show and be able to share Barry’s personal press release for his work:

Just Off Pearl

Recent Paintings by Barry H. Gillespie

August 6-31, 2010.
Jet’s Espressoria, 2116B Pearl St.
Opening Reception Friday, Aug. 6, 6-8 pm.

The images of buildings in this show are all from a small area of downtown Boulder, the area bounded by Broadway, Walnut, Pine and 20^th. By looking at what is familiar through new eyes we can see great beauty in the ordinary. What is commonplace, and thus often unnoticed, takes on new significance. These paintings focus on what is behind the public front façade, looking at the backs of buildings, or some small aspect of the structure, like a tower, a decorative roofline, or how a shadow of a tree falls on a wall.

Artists have always been interested in structures of all kinds; monumental, spiritual and practical. From the earliest of times and in all cultures man has expressed his need for order and beauty through the building of structures like Stonehenge, the temples of Angor Wat and the Parthenon. Often these structures were painted. Painters were simply an extension of the architect’s vision.

After the renaissance the idea of buildings as the subject of art, rather than the object, arose, with works like Canoletto’s scenes of Venice, where the people are always dwarfed by the buildings, and Monet’s 32 paintings of Rheims Cathedral, where now only the building is depicted. The advent of photography accelerated this trend. Structures have character, in and of themselves, and this character can be expressed in art depicting them. This character is often revealed by how light falls on the building, or some part of the building, creating patterns of light and shadow.  The paintings in this exhibit all explore this idea.

For More information:
Email Barry H. Gillespie
Phone: 303-447-0455

Barry H. Gillespie is a mathematician turned expressionist painter. His work was originally very linear and abstract, coming completely from his own imagination, but in the last 18 months he has come to see architecture as applied mathematics, as a ground which allows him to express the beauty that he sees all around him. His work combines his fascination with order, precision and light with the effects of his Theravaden Buddhist practice, giving his paintings a great stillness.