Visiting China’s Yellow Mountain can be a stunning experience — both visually and physically. Three artists traveled to the location with artist Michael Nock in March of 2015, and the results of that trip are featured in a current exhibition.
Showcasing the work of three distinctive artists with eclectic styles, “Peaks and Valleys” is sure to delight at NockArt Gallery through December 19. In March 2015, Tim Allen, Steve Lopes, and Dapeng Liu travelled to the impressive Yellow Mountain region with gallery owner and artist Michael Nock, where they each chose a variety of dazzling views and subjects to represent in their own unique styles along the way.
Dapeng Liu, “View from Qingliang Pavilion,” 2015, gouache on paper, 56 x 76 cm. (c) Dapeng Liu 2015
Liu’s “Deep Bay and the Reclining Man” displays a wonderful atmospheric space with cool tones blended to perfection. In the sparsely populated scene, the viewer finds a small grove of trees just above the bottom edge of the canvas as distant mountain peaks pierce the rich fields of graduated colors. Liu’s “View from Qingliang Pavilion” features the artist’s more expressive and fluid brushwork. Executed with gouache on paper, the jagged and dominating mountain peaks abstractly fill the page. Their strong vertical motion emphasizes their scale, character, and drama.
Tim Allen, “Empty and Full (Huangshan),” 2015, oil on linen, 136 x 183 cm. (c) NockArt Gallery 2015
Lopes’s “Cliffface Yellow Mountain” shows a thicker, more abstract application of paint. Although the subject may be static, the movement and vibration of the surface are hypnotic. Cool tones of gray, brown, and green dance across the panel and convey the artist’s energy and individuality.
Steve Lopes, “Cliffface Yellow Mountain,” 2015, oil on board, 25 x 35 cm. (c) NockArt Gallery 2015
Expression and abstraction are taken even further in the works of Tim Allen, who employs large, bold, and sweeping brushstrokes to reveal his subjects. “Empty and Full (Huangshan)” is one example. At first glance the piece may appear completely abstracted, with quick — nearly violent — strokes of the brush animating the surface. However, at distance, representation and form emerge and we find large, powerful peaks stabling into the space.
To learn more, visit NockArt Gallery.
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