Bruce Dean

Artist Biography

My art, prints and posters are the visual record of events that take place in my studio. I begin by laying out a simple iconographic image. I don't feel fully engaged in the painting until some portion of the work begins to jell. Then a tension develops between "working it' and trying to stay out of the way.

The most satisfying art, prints and posters are the most difficult to resolve. Perhaps the most successful are those that best reflect the process of their creation. The imagery comes from a long-standing commitment to the modernist convention of the grid. The push-pull effect of containing gestural painting within a geometrically based figure has always appealed to me. I am fascinated by ancient texts, records, graphs, and manuscripts. Items whose specific meaning may have been lost over time, but whose inherent visual power remains intact, particularly when the beauty of those objects has been enhanced by the patina of age.

The simplistic art, prints and posters are an attempt to tap into the memories and ideas we all share at a subconscious level. My current series of spheres, conjunctions, and eclipses evolved from simple arcs. The spheres give me an opportunity to paint light and form. The eclipse seems to suggest the passage of time, or perhaps the recording of an event.

Bruce Dean Art, Prints and Posters Collection