“Robert Brinker” is the first solo show of paintings by Robert Brinker to be held at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art.  The eight large paintings and smaller studies in this exhibition were produced over the course of the past year, but they mark the culmination of a ten-year exploration of integrating figurative elements derived from the print media and translated into abstract patterns.  The artist described the process employed in making these new paintings: “I begin by tracing lines from many sources such as coloring books, comics, and traditional Chinese paper cuts… The finished collage is then scanned into the computer where I can further manipulate it… I use these lines as a template that I overlay on some of the original source materials and begin to create the composition, colors and details… In the paintings (as opposed to the collages and preliminary studies), I am able to better explore the space by manipulating the paint, creating subtle fades in the lines and backgrounds or through flat fields of color.  ”

The result is a series of stunningly impressive paintings, explosions of color and form composed of entangled lines that advance and recede in space on graceful ribbons (some bearing discernable figurative elements, other not) that spread from one edge of the composition to the other.  The power and intensity of their physical presence are in part due to the fact that we can easily imagine these undulating forms expanding, exceeding the limitations of their format to inhabit a realm visible only in the mind.

               Made especially for the exhibition is 12 x 12-inch composition painted directly on the wall surface, suggesting Brinker’s ambition to create works of this type on a considerably larger scale, not only as complete room installations, but if the opportunity were to present itself, as the entire exterior skin of a building.