Valton Tyler
One Little Stage
1970

Name: One Little Stage
Brand: Valton Tyler
Price: 750 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez wrote of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined paintings, prints and drawings, whose style defies convenient labels. Abstract, surreal, cartoonish, sci-fi fantastic, metaphysical, apocalyptic-Baroque - all of these fit but also fall short of fully describing his art." (The Living Arts, June 13, 2000, p. B2) Valton Tyler was born in 1944 in Texas, where "the industrial world of oil refineries made a long-lasting impression on Valton as a very young child living in Texas City. He was three years old when the terrible explosion occurred there and can remember the terrifying confusion and 'the beautiful red sky and objects flying everywhere in the air.'" (Reynolds, p. 25) While growing up in Texas City, Valton's father worked in auto repair, and was known for his skill in mixing colors for paint jobs. After leaving Texas City, Valton made his way to Dallas, where he briefly enrolled at the Dallas Art Institute, but found it to be too social and commercial for his taste. After Valton's work was introduced to Donald Vogel (founder of Valley House Gallery), "Vogel arranged for Tyler to use the printmaking facilities in the art department of the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where the young artist essentially taught himself several demanding printmaking techniques. 'It was remarkable,' Vogel says. 'Not only did he learn complicated etching methods, but he was able to express himself powerfully in whatever medium he explored.' Vogel became the publisher of Tyler's prints. Among them, the artist made editions of some 50 different images whose sometimes stringy abstract forms and more solid, architecturally arresting elements became the precursors of his later, mature style." (Gomez, Raw Vision #35, p. 36) “One Little Stage” is plate number 24, and is reproduced in "The First Fifty Prints: Valton Tyler" with text by Rebecca Reynolds, published for Valley House Gallery by Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, Texas, 1972. In "The First Fifty Prints," Reynolds provides the following quote from the artist: "'One Little Stage' is a front elevation view of a sculpture. The stage would be concave or semicircular were it three dimensional, and instead of the stemmed and floating figurines that fill the spaces in the etching, there would be massive complex forms beneath the arches. Since I was thinking in terms of a large environment at the time, I concentrated on the detail and design of the stage more than on anything else. The rest of the forms grew as I worked, to complete and fill the design for the time being. "As I worked, thoughts for new shapes would come to my mind. Like buds or seeds to be used later, I included these by putting them on the stage in the forms of the figurines. "I cut the plate completely around the design of the stage to contrast the gray tone of the plate against the whiteness of the paper. It creates a warmer atmosphere. The small white dots in the corners and on the small houses are holes I cut completely through the plate to emboss them. "'One Little Stage' helped me to work out the possibilities for sculptural forms; for instance, the convoluted roof of the stage and dome in the center led to the massive structures and intricately modeled designs in 'Heritage.'" (Reynolds, p. 84) Paper size: 16 1/2 x 20 1/4 inches Edition: 5 Artists Proofs Imp. 50 Signed Prints Imp. Bibliography: Edward M. Gomez, "Futuristic Forms Frolic Under Eerie Texan Skies," The New York Times, June 13, 2000, page B2. Edward M. Gomez, "Valton Tyler's Techno-Organic Landscapes," Raw Vision 35, Summer 2001, pages 34-39. Rebecca Reynolds, "The First Fifty Prints: Valton Tyler," published for Valley House Gallery by Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, Texas, 1972.

Creator:

Valton Tyler (1944, American)

Creation Year:

1970

Dimensions:

Height: 10.75 in (27.31 cm)Width: 14.25 in (36.2 cm)

Medium:

Rag Paper,Etching

Movement & Style:

Surrealist

Period:

1960-1969