Release: Immediate
Date: March 25, 2010
Contact: Tracy Martin, Assistant State Curator
802 828-0749
tracy.martin@state.vt.us
New works by Paul Gruhler
at the Governor’s Office for April and May
A show of new works by Paul Gruhler will be on display at the Governor’s Office on the fifth floor of the Pavilion Office Building in Montpelier from April 2 through May 27.
A self-taught artist, Paul Gruhler grew up in New York City where he remembers being impressed by tall buildings and the “orderly grid of streets and avenues.” The ancient and contemporary art of cultures that he encountered in later travels to Mexico, South America, the Far East and Europe also came to influence his work. While Gruhler is quick to acknowledge the importance of encouragement he received from artist friends such as sculptor Michael Lekakis, painter Harold Weston and the colorist painter Herb Aach, he clearly made is own way with a strikingly distinct abstract vision.
Gruhler describes his work as exploring “vertical and horizontal relationships in space, the harmony and tension within color, line and form.” In many of his pieces planes of color seem actually to advance or recede in space, while lines bisecting those planes appear to vibrate in place. Gruhler’s exuberant use of color, coupled with deceptively straightforward compositions, result in works that fairly radiate energy.
Paintings by Paul Gruhler were first shown in 1965 at the DeMena Gallery in New York City. In subsequent years his work was shown in Mexico, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and throughout the United States. Since moving to Vermont, he has exhibited at the Vermont Supreme Court, the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College, and at the 215 College Gallery in Burlington. Paul Gruhler lives and paints in Craftsbury Common, Vermont.
The public is invited to a reception at the Governor's Office in honor of the artist on Wednesday, April 7th, from 3 to 5 PM.
