Holyoke artist’s work on display at Tower SquareDate: 12/22/2016 SPRINGFIELD – Speak to artist Dean Nimmer for a few minutes about his work exhibited in a new show at the Art for the Soul Gallery at Tower Square and he uses two interesting words. The first is “collaboration.”
The abstract work on exhibit isn’t the product of a partnership between two artists, Nimmer explained but rather between himself and the painting itself.
“I’m like a hired hand,” he said. Nimmer added, “In most cases the painting is the slave – you tell the painting what to do.”
The second word is “fun.”
His process is to “liberate the form inside. I don’t pre-plan, I have no idea at all what’s going to come about.” He added with a smile, “It’s actually a lot of fun.”
Nimmer is emeritus professor at the Massachusetts College of Art where he was the chair of painting. The Holyoke resident is the author of several books, with his most recent being “Creating Abstract Art.”
The works in the exhibit were mostly created in the last several years. “They are partly built by doing a drawing and alternating between drawing and painting. What happens is a form develops,” he explained.
A painting titled “Full Sail” was never intended to look like it when Nimmer completed it. It had developed what he called “vessel form,” therefore the title.
“I kind of trust I have whatever buried in there, what I uncover or to some extent carve out, it’s going to be intriguing,” he said.
One painting Nimmer named “Pyramid” because “the structures in there were almost alien.” He continued, “What I captured was the form celestial or mathematical. It is mystery basically. Great fun!”
One group of small paintings is part of a series of 4,000 such works Nimmer has done since 1994. He explained these work on paper serve as a way for him not to develop bad habits as an artist.
Another series of painting at the exhibition is a number of oil paintings that Nimmer said feature the paint and its color and texture as the subject for the finished work.
A series of collages features material that he has in the studio that he says “calls out to me.”
Several sculptures on display also reflect both the idea of found objects and his approach to abstract art. One sculpture, “Battle Wagon,” is made from a variety of plastic model kit pieces glued and melded together.
When Nimmer makes something like this, he said the result reflects the work of his “alter-ego,” which allows him free reign of his creativity.
Nimmer’s exhibit will be open through the end of January. For more information go to www.art4thesoul.org.
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