Paulsen at the Rourke, Praise from Walter Piehl

Brian Paulsen’s paintings and prints are amalgamations of images that confound normal perceptions, as do all surrealist works. In Paulsen’s aesthetic, strange bedfellow juxtapositions seem somehow inevitable — as though formally the odd groupings are prefigured constructions. An analogy comes from poetry. Gem perfect poems are constellations of just the right words in just the right order. Something similar can be said of the visual components in Paulsen’s mysterious, yet psychically and emotionally accessible works — just the right formal and conceptual images, in just the right order.

An example lies in the classically accomplished work Beyond Puberty in which Paulsen appropriates an art historical image and places it in the background, while his vintage portrayal of a young adult woman dominates the foreground. Paulsen’s personal vision of woman is not a romanticized ideal, but a straight forward realistic depiction of sturdy, sensuous, introspective females. In addition, the women represented retain their personal identities, yet they never lose their status as the artist’s model either.

The work Figure Eight also follows this pattern. Blindfolded sitters, armature-like wooden structures, arms draped in fabric, interiors with mundane aspects, circular orbs floating indoors — this familiar Paulsen iconography carries the weight of personal symbolism, recognizable borrowings, studio art references — all in surreal, yet ordinary environs.

Accompanying this remarkable collection of Paulsen images is a North Dakota Museum of Art book that presents over 60 reproductions from two decades of Paulsen’s artistic output. The importance of Paulsen’s prize-winning aesthetic has been recognized by regional and national gallery and museum directors, and his reputation as one of North Dakota’s major modern/postmodern artists has been firmly established, thanks in part to the excellent championing of North Dakota Museum of Art Director Laurel Reuter.

North Dakota painter and 2008 Bush Enduring Visions Award winner Walter Piehl spoke with HPR about Paulsen’s art and his heavy-hitting exhibition record. “There is no doubt,” Piehl stated, “that Paulsen’s national exhibition record is one of the most impressive, not only in the Upper Midwest, but in the nation. No one has sent work to more juried and invitational exhibitions than Paulsen. His images are second to none in technique and imagery. In addition, they are so unique and so well-designed in a surrealist way. Had he wanted to, he could have moved on to any number of universities in the nation, but he stayed in North Dakota, and we should be very thankful to him for that. I have the highest respect for him, for his art, and for his determination and
resolve….”
Eclectic Energies
The Watercolors and Prints of Brian Paulsen
The Rourke Art Gallery
Preview and Book Signing, Sept. 18th, 6:30-8:00
Public Opening and Book Signing Sept. 20th, 1:30-4:00
Gallery talk at 2 pm Sunday