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Brian Rutenberg,
Sundown 2 (2016). |
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Brian Rutenberg was born in South Carolina in 1965. Currently living and working in New York City, this nature-based abstract painter became a Forum Gallery artist in 2001. A graduate of the College of Charleston, South Carolina, Rutenberg participated in his first group exhibition in 1985 and moved to New York City shortly thereafter. He received a Master of Arts from New York's acclaimed School of Visual Arts. As a young and ambitious painter, Rutenberg sought to capture a unique representation of landscape through abstraction. The base of his interest stems from growing up between Pawley's Island and Charleston, where river and lake merge with ocean. These early childhood memories continue to be a presence in his painting.
In 1997 Rutenberg received a Fulbright Scholarship which afforded him an opportunity to spend one year in Ireland. From his travels there, Rutenberg's work became shaped by Celtic culture, specifically the La Tene Period, 600-400 B.C. Captivated by the pure abstract arabesques so powerful in the artwork of this period, Rutenberg similarly began to use a merging of forms in his work. Large circular shapes of color transformed his canvases into two-dimensional dioramas, each swirl bringing the viewer closer to the center of the drama on the picture plane.
Inspired by artists like Tom Thomson, Alexandre Calame, John Twachtman and Bob Thompson, Rutenberg executes paintings that embrace spirituality, love of color and a passion for paint. Although nature continues to be the major theme in his paintings, each of his works embodies a brand new approach and vision.
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