Bill Lowe Gallery presents La Splendeur Des Trois Reines (The Splendor of the Three Queens), an exploration of the wonders and intricacies of human nature; the natural, psychological and unconscious journey of the human experience, in a three person show of paintings and encaustic works by American artists Brenda Rehrig, Barbara Brenner and Karen Schwartz. The exhibition opens Thursday December 4h, from 6-9pm, at our Miami Circle Location.

The works comprising this show delve into the truth and unexplainable elements of human life through an array of mediums. In each work, these artists transcend our comprehension of the psychological, instinctual and subconscious regions of the human experience. The title of this show “La Splendeur Des Trois Reines” means “the splendor of the three queens” in French. It relates to each artist’s exquisite mastery of their craft. Barbara Brenner uses the encaustic process to layer wax in such a way that is uniquely her own. She suspends subtle details in the wax through a careful pouring process that she has perfected. Karen Schwartz uses paint on canvas to capture a moment and mood like no one else. Her use of color and gestural strokes create an atmosphere of pure emotion. Brenda Rehrig takes the encaustic process to new levels. She not only works with wax but allows it to build in a process called “encretion”. Her mastery of texture and dimension sets her apart.

Barbara Brenner offers the actualization of emergence in her work. She engages us from a distance, drawing us closer as we seek more visual and tactical information. What was once simply the depth and luminescence of hot wax becomes a reference of narrative. This is a collection of inherited potentials arrived at through a process both unconsciously and specific, and creates a narrative, both ambiguous and familiar, offering innumerable symbols and stories; the captured images of an awakening from the dream.

Karen Schwartz paints and draws the human figure for the beauty of its form and also, to get at the essence of emotional experience and emotional meaning. Both are embodied and revealed through pose, gesture, implied movement, and the relation between human beings in space. The very human need to make narrative sense of spontaneous gesture and unconscious self-presentation is at the heart of the visual exploration that materializes in a painting. The painting comes alive in those moments of engagement, when human understanding and connectedness ignite.

Brenda Rehrig uses the immediacy and serendipity of the encaustic process as tools to shape each painting. Beeswax is natural, textural and tactile and is the perfect medium for exploring this metaphor of nature. Each painting is a different visual and emotional experience.

Rehrig explores color, texture, process and rhythm. Each layer of wax reveals a dynamic energy that suggests elements from the natural world. She takes her inspiration from the beauty, wonder and spirituality that she finds in nature.

Her work speaks to the complex beauty and unpredictability of nature. Rehrig’s paintings are an exploration of micro to macro, loss and disease and the wonders of birth and creativity. These paintings are a stunning and beautiful metaphor for nature within. The rhythm of her paint application and the pulse of color in these works create a visual equivalent to a kind of chanting, through their vibration and pulse. They are a kind of language; complex, simple, a natural state of grace. Brenda Rehrig’s monochrome encaustic paintings of spirals address the macro and micro in nature, science and the spiritual implications of those connections.