PRESS: A MATTER OF LIGHT AND DEPTH

Robert Lange Studios Celebrates One Year Anniversary in Charleston
with Show Featuring Artist Robert Lange
Light-Infused Artwork Includes Trompe l’oeil and Travel Images

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (November 12, 2005)—Opening on December 2, A Matter of Light and Depth showcases the paintings of artist and gallery owner Robert Lange, exploring the use of stark light and rich shadow in the sometimes playful, sometimes serious contrast between appearance and reality.

On view through January 13, 2006, the exhibit is also a celebration of the gallery’s one year anniversary at its 151 East Bay Street location in the historic French Quarter district of downtown Charleston. A festive reception open to the public will be held on December 2, 2005 starting at 5 p.m. featuring wine, hors d’oeuvres, and music.

The twenty-five paintings in the exhibition are all focused on the interplay of light: reflections, shadows, and the varying qualities of a range of light sources. Lange takes a hyper-realist approach to his subject matter with disciplined brushstrokes and the stylized geometric division of space on his canvases. Bold colors punctuate a stark palette of whites and blacks with clean lines and open spaces, creating a structured sense of order.

Lange’s paintings often depict a fleeting moment, photographed and then broken from its context as an autobiographical memory and recast as a shared experience. In “Faith,” a man on his knees, praying in the middle of a busy sidewalk in Rome, is transformed from a family vacation memento into an icon of intimate solitude. “I paint the moments of my life as I see them, not as they are,” says Lange.

Part of a series of trompe l’oeil paintings, works such as “Lonesome Pear” and “Voyeur” literally “fool the eye” with surprisingly realistic renderings of objects such as paintbrushes and photographs taped to a wall, bending light into playful precision.

“This show has given Robert a chance to reflect on a very creative year of painting, resulting in a strong portfolio of beautifully luminous artwork,” said gallery director Megan Sobchuk.

A merit scholar of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Lange has paintings in private collections throughout the United States and Europe, and he was recently awarded the first place prize in the New Hampshire Snow Show.