Cheryl Pelavin Fine Arts is proud to present works by Robert Janz. Born in Belfast, he got his graduate art education in the states and then a Fulbright to Spain; the artist grew up around the world and continues to travel and exhibit here and abroad. He and his friends belonged, in their teens, to what he calls the Zen Generation. “Led by Pacific Coast Beat artists we practiced yoga, listened to the sitar, read Sufi and Haiku poets in various translations. We were casual but attentive. The distant teachings we studied seemed relevant to us for coping with a world reshaped by Joyce and Einstein, Freud and Klee, Beckett and Cage.” The artwork created by this artist has a haiku quality to it, a hidden emotion, wit or mystery that is a unique and integral part of each work.

Janz describes his own work beautifully when he says, “I don’t consciously try to make a wolf, elk or caribou. I make dream figures, creatures that are benign, witty or ferocious… My figures are totemic. They come from an evolving dream story that has various kinds of animals and figures that relate to ancient art, but like ancient art, rock art for example, the figures tend toward shamanic.”

The sculpture pieces are made from scraps found in his downtown neighborhood, broken wooden produce boxes, glue, thread other bits and bobs. It is the same method he used as a small child, it has never changed. He sees it as a parallel to childhood and very raw.

When he speaks of his flower paintings he mentions that “flower paintings are a genre” and although it is fun to put a new slant on a genre what I am really trying to capture is time, the flower in time. I do not work directly from nature, but from what I can remember.” Its about the kind of impressions he builds up. “I draw flowers blurred with motion. Overlapping colors make for shifting volumes. When we glance at the world everything seems sharp, precise in the present. But the present is always fluid, spilling on, sweeping all with it. These paintings emphasize that sweep through time, that spilling on.

Robert Janz has been making art for his entire life; it is his earliest memory of his life. He jokes that his creatures have TriBeCa DNA since they are created from local packing crates. His work has his DNA in it too, his drawings, paintings, sculptures – they all have his stoke, mark and rhythm, a definite elegance. No matter what his medium, even when he writes, that piquant and sparse yet rich quality is evident.

We were also favored by a suite of monotypes created by Robert Janz in our workshop this winter. His imagery ranges over all the subjects of his paintings and sculpture, they are filled with activity and a rich vocabulary of feelings. These too will be on display for our exhibition, which with its hanging art and installed sculptures promises to be quite an art event. I hope you will share the art of Robert Janz with us. Please contact gallery for further information.