Oklahoma City residents Rob Phenix, Shelly Collins, and Blake Collins exhibited new bodies of work at Untitled [ArtSpace] December 3, 2004 through January 22, 2005.

Exhibiting in the large, main gallery was be Rob Phenix’s newest body of abstract paintings titled Mysticus. These paintings convey ambiguous symbols layered with sporadic emotion and formal qualities of line on a muted color palate.  As Phenix stated, “This body of work was an attempt to simplify my subject matter and concentrate on the process of painting.” 

Phenix grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma and also spent significant amount of childhood living in the hill country outside of Austin, Texas.

Although Phenix received some art training while in college while focusing on other topics, he is primarily a self taught artist . His education stems from his passionate readings and studies of various artists. He cites his primary sources of education as coming from in-depth readings of the artists Miro, Picasso, Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Keith Haring, Warhol, and Jean Michel Basquiat. He also is an avid reader of past and current critical essays about art and has studied cultural elements from various cultures including Zuni, Hindu, Sunni, and Asian societies.

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Artist statement:

The symbol is the oldest form of human visual communication. The purpose of the symbol is to communicate an 'exact' meaning or feeling. These works deconstruct that concept.

By combining form and texture, these works offer the viewer subtle hints of 'exact' concepts, but most importantly there is an overriding sense that you should know more, but you don't. It is this not knowing, or the mystery, that is the concept of these works.

The colors are predominantly natural and earth-like while the use of texture reminds of us the symbol's raw, stone wall beginnings.  The various media and dense layering of these pieces present a surface that is at once a reflection on the symbol's early and rough beginnings, but ultimately add intellectual depth and evoke a contemporary aesthetic.

This body of work began as a challenge to myself to break away from my previous exhaustive four year study that concentrated on pulling subject matter from contemporary daily events. The challenge was to greatly simplify the subject matter and still create something deep and thought provoking. Along the way I threw out the random and intense color palette from the past and forced myself to use but only a few nature-inspired colors.

The subject matter has now been reduced to a greater level of purity of form and message. This level of purity raises the level of intrigue and allows me to question less and express more. And the more that is expressed the more mystery there is in the final outcome.

But one element is still with me and is not a mystery. These works continue to focus on merging line with brush. Not one on top of the other or one instead of the other, I am looking to embed the two within each other. By denying myself of certain elements of the past, I am able to concentrate more on process. I feel that the work becomes much more challenging, revealing, and risky without the safety net of things from the past. And it is this that I am most proud of and afraid of.

Rob Phenix
2004

Artist's Website

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Untitled [ArtSpace]
1 NE 3rd, Oklahoma City, OK 73104

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