BrianRutenbergThunderhead

Br i an Rutenberg Thunde rhead

Thunderhead I do one thing. Every painting I make begins and ends with the same image, a tree trunk and its shadow; that physical marking of location. A tree and its shadow say, “This is here”. By paying attention and drawing them in great detail with pencil on paper, I respond, “I am here.” I’ve never needed a position because I have a place. I don’t paint my native South Carolina, I manufacture a place and South Carolina becomes it. This newbody of work is collectively titled Thunderhead because a thunderhead in the sky portends a storm; something far away will soon be close. This is why all of my landscape paintings refer to standing in one season peering ahead into another, longing for October in May. I always go back to the wisdom of Winnie the Pooh , who said that his favorite thing isn’t getting honey, but that moment when he might get honey. Perhaps this is the source of all art: unfulfilled longing. It has taken me 42 years of painting to see what was there all along, that something can only come to life when we can’t have it.

Cover Detail: MOONBEAM 2018

Brian Rutenberg, New York City, 2018

Oil on Linen 60 x 82 inches

Brian Rutenberg Thunderhead

May 19 - July 21, 2018

625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 704.365.3000 gallery@jeraldmelberg.com www.jeraldmelberg.com

CORAL BELLS 2018 Oil on Linen 44 x 62 inches

CORAL BELLS 2 2018 Oil on Linen 44 x 62 inches

CORAL BELLS 4 2018 Oil on Linen 44 x 62 inches

FROND 2 2018 Oil on Linen 24 x 30 inches

FERN HILL 2018 Oil on Linen 30 x 40 inches

FERN HILL 2 2018 Oil on Linen 30 x 40 inches

FERN HILL 3 2018 Oil on Linen 30 x 40 inches

FERN HILL 4 2018 Oil on Linen 40 x 30 inches

THUNDERHEAD 2017 Oil on Linen 60 x 180 inches

LOBLOLLY 2018 Oil on Linen 60 x 40 inches

LOBLOLLY 2 2018 Oil on Linen 60 x 40 inches

LOBLOLLY 3 2018 Oil on Linen 50 x 34 inches

LOBLOLLY 4 2018 Oil on Linen 50 x 34 inches

LOBLOLLY 5 2018 Oil on Linen 50 x 34 inches

LOBLOLLY 6 2018 Oil on Linen 34 x 50 inches

LOBLOLLY 7 2018 Oil on Linen 40 x 48 inches

MOONBEAM 2018 Oil on Linen 60 x 82 inches

LIVE OAK 2018 Oil on Paper 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches

LIVE OAK 10 2018 Oil on Paper 22 1/2 x 30 1/4 inches

LIVE OAK 12 2018 Oil on Paper 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches

LIVE OAK 3 2018 Oil on Paper 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches

LIVE OAK 7 2018 Oil on Paper 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches

LIVE OAK 9 2018 Oil on Paper 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Brian Rutenberg Thunderhead

May 19 - July 21, 2018

625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 704.365.3000 gallery@jeraldmelberg.com www.jeraldmelberg.com

Photography by Steve Bates

Graphic Design by Gaybe Johnson

Publication Copyright © 2018 Jerald Melberg Gallery Inc. All Rights Reserved