Oakland artist
Bethany Ayres' paintings are done in very limited color schemes,
layering both enamel and oil onto stained plywood. The works are
hung on the
wall unframed, reinforcing the draw of the narrative and allowing
a direct relationship between the image and the viewer to be without
distraction.
Ayres's representational imagery, each individually narrative, offer
many samples each of both patterns and pathos. The thrust is to
provide an entry point to
the image through the narrative; to inspire discussion that ultimately
arrives at an increased curiousity about contemporary representationalism.
Some
reoccurring themes are surprisingly traditional, for instance the
meaning of value contrast and/or the significance of composition
as a symbol in itself within the image.
Early works by Ayres focused on "paradoxes in bilateral symmetry,"
and while her newer paintings' compositions still inform the subject
matter and content, they are much more active. The difference starts
with the more circular, almost spiral format, which in turn give
rise to more imaginative, allegorical narratives; and results in
a sustained upsweep of action and understanding.
Ayres received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1998 from the Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia, PA; and a BFA in 1996
from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. Since
moving to California in 1998, she has shown her work in Philadelphia,
throughout Oakland, Sacramento and Balboa Island. Ayres's paintings
have been reviewed in
the East Bay Express, the Piedmonter, San Francisco Bay Guardian,
and Diablo magazines; noted in Art in America; featured in the movie
Broken Arrows; and
collected in several private and public collections, including The
Detroit Institute of Art Museum. Part of her professional reputation
is her role as a managing partner in the cooperative galleries of
DB Coffman, Inc. Her work is represented by Esteban Sabar Gallery
in Oakland, California.
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