Tom Lieber- Yellow; from the Alligator Series 1980
Tom Lieber (1949-) is an abstract painter and printmaker. Lieber's large-scale abstractions are notable for their bold, natural colors and fluid marks placed against a layered neutral background. Informed by nature, specifically the surrounding landscapes of his current home in Hawaii, Lieber's work reflects his efforts to channel his interior life onto the canvas in the most intuitive and emotional manner possible.
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Lieber's use of gesture stems from the abstract expressionist tradition exemplified by Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline; yet, his subtle color and tonal variations reveal an affinity to the painterly minimalism of Brice Marden. The early canvases from the 1970's consist of expansive monochromatic color zones that, over time, taje on increasingly explicit and more painterly approach. Oftentimes, a single brushstroke or gesture anchors the painting, allowing the underlying color fields and tonal variations to recede and advance across the ground.
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Lieber uses a variety of techniques to achieve his effects, most notably monotype printing rollers. By interposing a mechanical device into an intuitive act, he arrives at a form of deep expression that is unforced, in which the pain becomes raw and direct. Lieber also believes that the human body is less apt than the mind to create something contrived, so he treats the act of painting as a full-body experience. When painting, he meditates using Alkido and Yoga; this unorthodox process influences his work as much as any intellectual idea or natural form.
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Tom Liever is a recipient of a National Endowment of Arts Grant and has exhibited extensively since 1974. In 2003, the Honolulu Contemporary Museum in Hawaii organized a major show of his work. His paintings and monotypes are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenhei Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Tate Gallery, London.