A    r    t    e    s

Chazen Museum of Art

Dennis Nechvatal Landscapes

August 7 – October 3, 2010  

 

Dennis Nechvatal
Hope, 2009–2010
acrylic on wood panel, 48 x 96 in.
Shirley G. Epstein Endowment Fund purchase, 2010.3 

The Chazen Museum of Art will present Dennis Nechvatal Landscapes, an exhibition of lush, vivid paintings by one of Wisconsin’s best-known artists. This exhibition will feature some large-scale recent work, including Hope, an 8-foot-wide painting commissioned by the Chazen Museum of Art, and a selection of new landscapes and other works from private collections. Dennis Nechvatal Landscapes will be on view August 7-October 3, 2010.

Using a primitive stylistic language developed over 30 years of painting, Nechvatal infuses what he calls “verve” into his landscapes. Inspired by the Native American belief that the earth is a living being and we are responsible as its stewards to protect it, Nechvatal paints as a contemplative spiritual act and aspires to create works that will invoke an ideal communal vision of the natural world.

Nechvatal lives and works in Madison. He is a versatile artist whose recent pursuit has been to explore and master new styles and techniques. His cut tin masks and mask paintings, as boldly executed as his vivid landscapes, are also well known. His recent painting “Offering II” was selected for the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission 2010 poster. Many other museums have purchased his works for their permanent collections, including Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and Milwaukee Art Museum. His work has been exhibited nationally since the 1980s.