Artist Research: Bernard Frize (b 1949, France)
Soft lit tones of mixed colours are woven across, under and over in horizontal and vertical lines. These lines seem to merge into one large brushstroke, which is strongly applied forward in a pushing motion, and then abruptly stops. Inside these wide brushstrokes, subtle thin lines of colour are evident.
The colour tones are beautiful, cool blues and purples next to warm pinks, yellows and oranges. The grid-like composition composed of rectangle shapes in a set and ordered pattern is not full of flat colours. I like patterns and geometry, and his use of the paint material with the painted strokes on display makes these works appealing.
Bernard Frize uses both oil and acrylic with resin. After looking closely at his works online, it is hard to tell if the colours are thinly applied in a transparent manner, such as Judy Millar’s application of paint. Or does Frize create one thick brushstroke with the many tones of paint coming through? Perhaps his use of resin gives each stroke a thicker consistency. These works are contemporary and fresh looking, and he shows his workings of pencil marks over the top. This is something I would like to experiment with, either with charcoal or graphite.
Source of images: https://www.simonleegallery.com/artists/bernard-frize/
