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G. Campbell Lyman
"Together, Apart" - Large Contemporary Abstract Painting

2019

About the Item

Artist's Statement "This series of intensely colorful paintings was begun in reaction to the gray oppressive weight of the social and political polarization that has descended like a pall over the past few years. I wanted to make paintings about nothing but pure delight, in honor of the fact that beneath this fog of antagonism, we still eat, laugh, love and if we're wise, acknowledge how spectacularly fortunate we are -- at least for now, in this time and place, despite our petty differences. For me, the colors, forms and brushstrokes here feel exuberant without suggesting an unnerving chaos. I have purposely used unlikely color combinations that despite their dissonance seem to work together. I don't feel this is a time to be making brooding works that reflect the schism we are working our way through; we all know about this. On the contrary, I think it's a time for art to lift us above it, and for us to be thankful." This is part of a series that has been ongoing for several years, but the paintings up until now have all been sold privately, directly to collectors and designers, often before completion. There is no availability in the secondary (auction) market as of now. The series prior to this one (two examples of which are in our 1stDibs Store) show a higher degree of articulation, from which the artist has purposely departed in the new works. These paintings have been placed not only in contemporary settings, but surprisingly in rooms of fine antiques as well, creating a tension between the classic and the contemporary -- like the abstract works you sometimes see in uber-traditional dining and living rooms of seasoned collectors. This is a large painting that will make its present felt throughout an entire room. More paintings in this series will be posted over the next few weeks as they are photographed. (On the prior series by the artist): “These paintings are a refreshing departure from the current abstract art world’s seemingly endless parade of fields of color with scribbles providing form, a style that is easily mimicked and has become a sort of “safe,” accessible go-to. There are confident decisions in these paintings appearing as commitments of strongly delineated forms and unexpected collisions of color that give the work a visceral, confident and playful soul, increasingly missing from contemporary expressionist abstraction. They are the paintings of a real painter rather than a decorative artist.” ArtSeen, 2018 “Lyman’s work evolves restlessly, with the common elements generally being deft and unusual color choices that balance assonance and dissonance, and vestiges of the hand and facture purposely left in the paintings. The negative space is often so meticulously worked that it’s almost as if the objects – usually simple shapes – are there as much to complement the background as vice versa. Despite the often bold colors there is an elegance about his paintings that prevents them from being loud or decorative. " Artbeit Zeitschrift
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  • Quorum
    By G. Campbell Lyman
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    (Comes framed in a deep-profile maple or black floater frame, ready to hang.) Artist's Statement: "This painting harkens back to my 'Gridish' series but with more negative space, a broader array of media and more complexity to the oval forms. I have tried to create tension between these iconic forms through the divergence of dissonant and unusual materials, colors and textures. These ovals keep reappearing in my work; they seem almost like groups of silent but sentient beings to me." “Lyman’s work evolves restlessly, with the common elements generally being deft and unusual color choices that balance assonance and dissonance, and vestiges of the hand and facture purposely left in the paintings. The negative space is often so meticulously worked that it’s almost as if the objects – usually simple shapes – are there as much to complement the background as vice versa. Despite the often bold colors there is an elegance about his paintings that prevents them from being either loud or decorative. " Artbeit Zeitschrift “His paintings are a refreshing departure from the current abstract art world’s seemingly endless parade of fields of color with scribbles providing form, a style that is easily mimicked and has become a sort of “safe,” accessible go-to. There are confident decisions in these paintings appearing as commitments of strongly delineated forms and unexpected collisions of color that give the work a visceral, confident and playful soul, increasingly missing from contemporary expressionist abstraction. They are the paintings of a real painter rather than a decorative artist.” ArtSeen, 2018 (from a collector): "Love your work. We collect colorists like Wolf Kahn and Jennifer Bartlett, whom I commissioned a piece from that is in the entrance of Mayo Clinic. We are old fans...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal, Pastel, House Paint, Oil, Acrylic, Clay

  • Aggregate #24 (Abstract Contemporary Painting, Framed)
    By G. Campbell Lyman
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    (Comes framed in a maple floater frame, ready to hang.) This is one of a series we have posted on 1stDibs. The first got more clicks and saves on its first day than any of the many hundreds of artworks we have ever posted. If you search on "G. Campbell Lyman" on 1stDibs you can see others in this series. Here's a recent message from a 1stDibs buyer of a painting in this series, a seasoned collector: "Love your work. We collect colorists like Wolf Kahn and Jennifer Bartlett, whom I commissioned a piece from that is in the entrance of Mayo Clinic. We are old fans...
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    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Charcoal, Pastel, House Paint, Acrylic

  • Rosetta #17
    By Guy Lyman
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    (Comes framed and ready to hang in a high-profile maple frame.) Artist’s Statement: “I have been working on more formal and restrained paintings lately, and decided to loosen up by ...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Tar, House Paint, Acrylic, Charcoal, Pastel

  • "Sonata in Three Colors" - Contemporary Multimedia Abstract Painting
    By G. Campbell Lyman
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    Artist's statement: "Separate from the tar paintings I have been doing, I am creating a series of work in which I am channeling some of the things I have always loved about Cy Twombly along with qualities of a painting I saw in a local collection by a Cuban painter that I really admired and have thought about a lot since. Of course both share a graffiti quality; Twombly was the first to work with a sort of automatic drawing, beginning in the 1950s, and what he did opened up this new language for countless painters. You still see traces of it in so much contemporary art. Antoni Tapies has been a big influence on me as well, and you can see some of him in this work as well. I limited the color palette in this one as a sort of exercise in discipline, since it is easy to let color get away from you in a painting like this one. There are areas of three-dimensional paint that help flatten the picture plane and restrict the eye from reading depth into the painting; they function in the same way as Barnett Newman's 'zips' and Susan Rothenberg's lines across some of her horse images...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Spray Paint, Acrylic, Graphite, Charcoal, Pastel, Oil

  • Aggregate #22 (Large Abstract Contemporary Painting)
    By G. Campbell Lyman
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    This is one of a series we have posted on 1stDibs. The first got more clicks and saves on its first day than any of the many hundreds of artworks we have ever posted. If you search on "G. Campbell Lyman" on 1stDibs you can see others in this series. Here's a recent message from a 1stDibs buyer of a painting in this series, a seasoned collector: "Love your work. We collect colorists like Wolf Kahn and Jennifer Bartlett, whom I commissioned a piece from that is in the entrance of Mayo Clinic. We are old...
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    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Charcoal, Pastel, Acrylic

  • "Paladin" - Contemporary Multimedia Abstract Painting
    By G. Campbell Lyman
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    (Painted on thick gallery-wrapped professional canvas, ready to hang or be framed if you prefer. A video has been included to provide a dimensional view of the piece.) Artist's Stat...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Graphite, Pigment, Lacquer, Pastel, Acrylic

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