Arts writer Jeffrey Day recently published a fantastic review
of our current exhibition, Brian Rutenberg: The Wild South.
Read the full review here:
New works on paper by Brian Rutenberg are a revelation
I am seeing a lot of Brian Rutenberg and his art this year. The Myrtle Beach native whose landscape inspired paintings are always exciting has a new show at the Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte.
What makes this show unique and eye-opening is that other than one work, it is comprised entirely of oil paint on paper pieces. The 19 paintings were all done this year: ten 30-by-22-inch paintings, all titled The Wild South; eight 15- by-11-inch works, called Sunseeker; and the 5-by-6-foot oil on linen Myrtle.
I didn't know before I went that this was going to be a painting on paper show; not sure what I would have been expecting if I did, but this exceeds any expectations I would have had of any Rutenberg show. These are magnificent. Although so much smaller than most of his work I've seen, they have the same power, maybe even more concentrated. Usually his works on paper take a secondary role; it's great to see them on center stage.
Since returning to South Carolina last fall, I've seen Rutenberg several times, along with a lot of his art. The first was a great show of mostly large paintings at the Sumter Gallery of Art, then a painting he donated to USC that's on display in the Koger Center for the Performing Arts, and an exhibition of 15 early works at the Greenville Museum where he had his first museum show in 1993 which is where and when I met him. (See reviews of the Sumter and Greenville shows below, May 1 and July 20 postings respectively.)
I've seen a great deal of his work over the last few decades, but never so much in such a short period of time. When I think it can't get better or maybe I've seen enough, he's done it again as with this exhibition. I've written so much about his work this year, that I won't go on much more than that. I'd rank this as some of the best work he's ever done.
- Jeffrey A. Day
Artwork: Brian Rutenberg SUNSEEKER 2025. Oil on Paper, 15x11 inches.
