A Gift of Dreams: The Creative Process.
Work by Richard Weis 1965-2024

Stone Valley Arts announces a major exhibit "A Gift of Dreams: The Creative Process" a retrospective of the work of Richard Weis. The show will display a body of work from 59 years as an artist. Opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 7 from 5-7pm. The exhibit will run through October 20 with gallery hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4pm where Weis will be set up as an artist in residence and he will be available to do painting demonstrations and discuss his work with visitors.

Growing up in rural Minnesota, Weis really didn't know what life as an artist might be like. He didn't really know any artists, and had very little experience looking at art. Following the lead of two older brothers, Weis was just a kid that liked to draw. The support of teachers, and a scholarship allowed him to attend the local college in his home town, and it was there he began to paint.

Weis has long been aware of many recurring threads woven into the tapestry of his work over the years. Even so, putting the show together, he was surprised about how far back in time some of these threads go. There were the early observational figurative and landscape works, and a definite third generation Bauhaus influence, inspired by one of his early mentors, a student of Josef Albers. Through the years his work became more painterly and less representational, as he began to recognize the expressive power of the mark itself, as seen in traditional Asian painting, the work of the Rembrandt school, and work of painters such as Willem DeKooning, and Franz Kline.

Weis' explorations, forced him to question many traditional conventions in painting, leading to experiments beyond the rectangular format, creating assemblages, and developing paintings that moved from the wall into three-dimensional space. These various threads continue in his work to this very day, and he urges the viewers of this exhibition to see if they can trace them, and see how these various threads have evolved and changed over time. It is an on-going process, and Weis is still exploring, and still learning new things almost every time he goes into the studio.

Summarizing his own approach to painting Weis says: "I think of my work as visual poetry or music. The viewer should consider that perspective when viewing the work. If you can enjoy it for what it is, perhaps you can take away something new that will enrich the way you see the world."

Event Info

Sep 17, 2024, 7:30 to 10:30 AM

Sep 19, 2024, 5:30 to 6:30 PM

Sep 20, 2024, 10 to 11 AM