John McAllister: some rhapsodies radiant

About

John McAllister will present 11 new works of oil on canvas inspired by his frequent outings into the wilderness of New England, where he lives and works. McAllister’s distinctive palette of neon hues transforms classical pastoral scenes of nature into intense and ecstatic compositions, where dense forest, rolling hills, and sky begin to blend into a single, impressionistic whole. With this, the artist attempts to relay what he describes as the “electric void” experienced in nature, at once characterized by a mesmerizing beauty and terrifying carelessness, which can only ever be simulated through representation as stylized images or feeling.

Through warm and abrasive colors, applied with a splotchy, yet controlled mark-making, the 11 works on display attempt to harness a feeling of rhapsodic immersion: they invite the viewer into the densest depth of landscapes to the point of total absorption, where the haze of one’s periphery begins to blend nature’s shapes and colors. This is accentuated in the two tondos in the exhibition; a classical technique of Renaissance painting, where the absence of edges gives the feeling of the eyes soft focus when daydreaming or lost in thoughts. Regarding McAllister’s paintings is both mesmerizing and soothing; hot and cold, perspective and intimacy are constantly at play to produce psychological effects in the viewer.