Bespoke Gallery is pleased to present “Rising Color”, a series of acrylic paintings on canvas, board and paper by artist Franck Salzwedel.

The paintings in “Rising Color” feature a vivid saturation of brightness and illumination which is the culmination of Salzwedel’s elaborate process of layering individual pigment tones in a fashion that teases a vigor, presence, force and tension from each carefully developed color subject.

For every color that he explores, Salzwedel introduces a complex quality of depth and resonance, each with its own particular qualities. As a suite, the color subjects work together to connect the viewer directly with the universality of human experience. Much like music or scent, they are revelatory devices, direct and simple outlets to the psyche. They are chromatic statements that describe the role that color plays in exposing our consciousness to sensation and emotion.

Salzwedel’s use of bright and eye-catching colors - reds, oranges, magentas, yellows, blues, silvers - would appear at first glance to be inspired by a synthetic paradigm. Upon further consideration, the paintings suggest tones that are organic and evocative of an abstract crepuscular skyscape – more analogous to an earthly palette than the world of artifice.

Salzwedel’s diptych “Earthlight 1 and 2” conveys a mysterious and pulsating duality that speaks to the nature of good and evil, darkness and luminosity. His painting educes a greater metaphysical drama, a human connection to something deeper than the quotidian without soliciting a commitment from the viewer to identify with either a natural or constructed aesthetic experience.

Salzwedel’s paintings are grounded in the reality, optimism and transcendence of the human experience. Inspired by artists such as Wolfgang Laib, James Turrell, Yves Klein and Mark Rothko, Salzwedel seeks to proffer the viewer a dimension that connects directly to an experience far larger than that of the individual.

Salzwedel recently relocated to New York City from the South of France, where he has had several solo exhibitions. He spent his childhood in Indonesia and France and attributes much of his fascination with color to his formative experiences in Asia. Salzwedel later studied and graduated from Institut Francais de la Mode (IFM) in Paris, France with an MBA in Fashion and Creation. Prior to embarking on a painting career, Salzwedel was a creative director for several international fragrance companies, where he helped develop a number of acclaimed scents. Salzwedel’s work is included in a number of important international private art collections.