Intimate Metaphors by Vincent Rymer
This recent body of work finds Rymer as an artist who has found a direction and pace which he is clearly comfortable with. Rymer's exploration into his emotional, spiritual and physical environment is translated here as bold, vibrant works which show him as a deeply accomplished colourist. These pieces demonstrate his enormous visual range and are a clear indication of an awakening or a release from some invisible constraint.
From my first experiences of Rymer's work I noticed a structure and discipline to his paintings, although deeply abstract I always felt I could identify the form and architecture of his subject matter. However this was always only a veneer as beneath this order lay a wild and exciting rebelliousness that threatened to punch through the surface at any time. It felt like conflict, like the two sides of the artist's psyche were battling with each other for the right to dominate the canvas.
Looking at this new collection of works it is clear that the struggle was only ever a war of attrition as Rymer has masterfully shown both qualities co-existing. The structure is still in evidence, however the artist shows that although disciplined he is still very much untamed. The vibrant strokes and the deep impasto can be both loose and sometimes very precise, but combined they create an incredible visual effect that has a musical quality that sings to the viewer.
Rymer's pictorial language uses a spiritual abstraction that reminds me of the works of Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee and when looking at his paintings it is easy to see that Rymer has drawn inspiration from some of the true heroes of modern abstraction. However his work has now evolved into an open expressionist style, with broad sweeping strokes and some new, vibrant additions to his palette which make his style very much his own.
When viewing a painting from this latest collection you instantly feel the musical and poetic overtones. The sheer energy and wild incandescent colour raises Rymer's work to startling new levels and it almost feels like a metamorphosis has taken place. It feels to me like Rymer Reborn.
Jake Bose, Vitreous Contemporary Art
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