FLASHBACK
I was cruising the Roy Boyd Gallery the other day and I came across a blast from the past. John Reuter-Pacyna is represented by Roy Boyd. My very first graphic design teacher was Reuter-Pacyna. My parents enrolled my brother and I in a pre-college design course at The School of the Art Institute in 1992. It was great. John introduced us to basic design principals that I still carry with me today.
PHOTOCOPIERS
He also introduced me to the great power that is the photocopier. We had free access to the photocopier which was a big treat at the time. (Throughout the remainder of high school and throughout college I had to pay for photocopies on campus or at Kinkos.) Fusing photocopy and photography techniques became the basis for my Bachelor of Fine Arts Application Exhibition during my Sophomore year at Illinois Wesleyan University in the February of 1995.
JOHN REUTER-PACYNA’S MIXED MEDIA COLLAGES
I enjoy the simplicity of his Art. He let the textures and objects speak for themselves in a harmonious fashion. There are two elements that bring about this harmony: color and composition.
The basic color found in all the works is brown. He masterfully brings together different beat-up, worn-down objects and proudly displays their different shades of brown. The subdued brown palette sometimes, but not always, is complemented by a burst of bright color. “Burst” isn’t the right word though. Even though certain areas have a brighter hue, they are still united with the rest of the piece because of the worn, scruffy nature of that bright object.
All regions of color whether brown, red, or blue are well intregrated together through the use of composition. The basic grid layout technique provides a visual stability and functionality which presents the textures and found objects in an approachable, easily digestable manner. The grid establishes a strong base for these assemblages to become “spirtitual windows of contemplation”.
Here’s what the Roy Boyd Gallery has to say about his work:
JOHN REUTER-PACYNA combines found materials to discover universal visual relationships which transcend the humble origins of the components. The ordering of these elements transforms society’s castoffs into spiritual windows of contemplation.