LZ Project Space is pleased to present Plextasy, bas-relief paintings in cast acrylic by Minnesota-based artist Dick Brewer.

Revolving around vibration and the transformation of energy, Brewer uses a 21,000 rpm die grinder to mine abstract imagery in half-inch thick plexiglas, painting the resulting bas-relief sculptures with lacquers and enamels, occasionally leaving clear areas of plex and overlaying the reliefs on other imagery, appropriated or of his own making.

Music and sound have been the underpinnings of his art. “Over the course of thirty years,” Brewer says, “I listened to music as I worked, letting it guide my movements. The marks I made directly referenced techno, jazz, symphonic and primitive forms. The whining of the grinder abrading the plexiglas mingled with the melodies, punctuated by my own percussion. It was a collaborative experience, translating music to cast acrylic.” In the past decade, external sources of music have been eliminated, and it is the multiplicity of sounds generated by the grinder alone which guide him.

Titled “Sturm und Drang” by a closet intellectual bus driver friend of Brewer’s, the largest work in PLEXTASY translates to “Storm and Stress” and refers to an 18th century movement in German literature and music which emphasizes the free expression of emotion over the constraints of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment.

Dick Brewer lives and works in Minneapolis. A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, he has exhibited nationally and internationally. He has been awarded both Bush and McKnight Fellowships. His work is in numerous private, public and corporate collections including Weisman Museum, Minnesota Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.