Interviewsand Articles

 

Paul Reynard: Drawings

by Richard Whittaker, Mar 18, 2001


 

 







In 1996 I published one issue of Deus Ex Machina. With our original title, The Secret Alameda, locals often assumed the magazine was about hidden restaurants, shopping tips and the like. Finally I abandoned it and came up with what I thought was a great alternative. But when I saw the expression on people's faces as they tried to pronounce Deus Ex Machina I realized my mistake. Only one issue exists, but it was quite special. Part of what made it special was the two-page spread featuring the work of Paul Reynard. I asked Paul if he'd write something to go with the two drawings we published. He gave me an eloquent hand-written page reproduced in the small image thumbnail. It reads:

 The image as emotional imprint, as a signature. On the paper light shines out of the graphite's shade; the imaginative drive draws out the Dream like silhouettes emerging on a feeling wall. In the meandering movements of the hand bygone impressions are remembered. Emotion surges through the grid of crosshatched strokes unveiling a New Reality, a new Language.

Paul taught at the School for Visual Arts, but had no interest in competing to make headway in the art world. Nevertheless, he produced a sublime body of work. In an interview, artist Jane Rosen (who also taught at SVA) reflects about her close relationship with Paul. A superb book (Dancing Camel Editions) of his work was published by Nancy Larson with help from Knowle Hanson. Reynard consulted on the project during the last years of his life.  - Richard Whittaker

 


     

 

About the Author

Paul Reynard was born in France and studied with Fernand Léger. He later lived in NYC where he taught at the School for Visual Arts and was a senior figure in the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York.       

 

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