Gary John Gresl and His Bicameral "Split Brain Series"

by Jeff Worman

Whether Gary John Gresl is painting, creating an assemblage, an installation or sculpture, his interpretation of the symbioses of the primitive and the postmodern is conveyed in symbolic and concrete messages. His use of large, bright masses of colors and natural and manufactured artifacts display a reflective transcendent logic.

"Everything can be read metaphorically," Gresl explains, pointing out the imagery in his work.

From bold Neo-Geo distinctions, Gresl has evolved the form a step further with his use of simple, three dimensional forms and neo-plastic adornments. He uses copper tubing, bent, woven, like capillaries in the mind, flowing with communication. Painted in brilliant tones, they oscillate, reflective of Op art and celebrating popular culture. And natural geometry is prevalent in his use of animal bones, hides, and materials resembling organic compounds.

"We are the only creature which has a brain that studies itself," Mr. Gresl said during an interview at his studio.
In his latest exhibition, "The Split Brain Series, Idea Evolution 1983-1987" images of the subconscious explore the divergent channels, nooks, and crannies of the mind and soul. The show opens Friday January 29 from 6 to 9 p.m. and continues through February 20 at the Tera Rouge Designer Galleria in Milwaukee, 225 East St. Paul, Suite 404.

The pieces jump up and attack like mystic yantras, at times, like a nuclear magnetic resonance scan at others. An installation piece also will be on display during the exhibition. Painted, tied bales of hay, like humanity's treatment of nature itself, as Mr. Gresl explains, "We want to groom it, tie it up and make it a cube." Art is alchemy. The show continues through February 20. Jump on it.

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