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Leaf and Bark and Limb and Bough - Landscapes of Jerry Cutler
Gallery: "The Sylvan Suite, 2001"
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The Sylvan Suite is a series of eight large paintings permanently sited at the J.Wayne Reitz Student Union, University of Florida. These grissaille, or 'black and white,' landscapes depict well-known trees of North Florida. Developed in Cutler's linear style, the works feature rich, intricate patterns and "trompe'le oel," or "fool the eye", framing elements. Florida's Art in Public Places Program commissioned the paintings in January, 2001 and they were installed in large niches along the north hall of the Grand Ballroom in September, 2002.
On the NW corner of the J. Wayne Reitz Student Union's second floor, the North Hall, with its 125 feet of niches and doors, resembles a "gallery" in both the architectural and the fine art sense. The expansive windows illuminate these spaces with north light, and the Sylvan Suite, with its arboreal images, artistically "reflects" the real trees that are seen through those windows.
The paintings follow the historical precedent of noted grissaille architectural decorations in the history of painting. Fourteenth Century Italy saw Giotto painting "The Virtures and Vices", which occupy the lower register of the famous Arena Chapel. In the 17th Century, upper register decorations in the Louvre featured trompe'le oel "bas reliefs" painted by Nicholas Poussin, Charles Lebrun and others. In the modern era monumental painting in black and white has been strongly revived by painters such as Robert Motherwell, Gerhard Richter and Alfred Leslie. |
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