Grad student creates complex color

Creating the difference between attractive and stimulating is what artist Beau Carey shoots for in his paintings.

Carey mostly works with large-scale oil paintings to reconstruct landscapes.

“I started painting about 10 years ago,” he said. “I was exposed to it in high school. As an undergraduate, I took a painting class and it was an interest of mine. I started with oil painting and was just a first love. I never got into acrylics or anything like that.”

This show is for his thesis, a requirement for fine art master’s students that will complete his degree.

“It took a lot of hard work. I was never the most talented. I just loved what I was doing. I’ve been working with landscape for the last five years,” Carey said. “I painted landscapes for this show. These are different because they are simpler. I used a lot of big color fields. The paintings are not as detailed, they are a little more abstract.”

Kathleen Jesse is an associate professor in the art and art history department. She was a part of Carey’s Master’s of Fine Arts committee, where her role was to direct Carey in his master’s thesis. There are three to four professors in each committee.

“I think his work is exceptional,” Jesse said. “He has a great understanding of color. I wouldn’t just call them colorful, his colors really resonate. What is beautiful about his work is that he takes shapes around him and simplifies them down to a more geometric form.”

Carey said he painted landscape areas in and around Albuquerque. A few of his paintings are derived from the West Side and South Valley, by the West Mesa. He also looked at a few stalled housing developments for his work. He said he has been working on this project since August 2009.

“This is a really great opportunity to display work and see what people think of it,” he said. “It is a cohesive body of work. Hopefully some other opportunities open up from this showing.”

Jesse said that Carey’s work is unique because he tries to capture a particular light. He researched and studied the color and light of the area he looks at, which helps him study the space, she said.

“He doesn’t just depict objects; it’s more like an existence as opposed to objects,” Jesse said. “He just zeroed in on his research and really took his research to a high level of development with color and simplifications.”

*“Far Fields, Events on the Ground.”

Beau Carey

Public talk, March 30

2 p.m.

Closing reception, April 2

5:30 p.m.

John Sommers Gallery

9 a.m. – 5 p.m.*