Email: berman@artnet.net Web: www.robertbermangallery.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 2, 2001

The Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of works by artist Paul Sierra encompassing his most recent paintings of the past two years. Sierra was born in Havana, Cuba and immigrated to the United States when he was 16. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and after working for 15 years in a different field, Sierra decided to dedicate himself full time to painting at around the age of 35. This will be Paul Sierra’s fourth solo exhibition at the Robert Berman Gallery.

Sierra’s vibrant paintings resemble the imaginings found in the writings of Isabelle Allende. Like the characters in her novels and stories, the multiplicity of his subjects are wrought with tension, they seem to struggle against or become enveloped by something far greater than themselves. His environments shimmer with a sense that something is just about to happen. These most recent works touch heavily upon the relationship between man and Nature. Water, land, clouds and sky are overwhelming symbols in these pieces; Nature is seen as a ‘huge machine, a timeless Universe’ whereby the human characters are riddled with insignificance. In the Swimmer series, the figures are but a small speck in the midst of their immense environments. The stories seem to lie somewhere outside of the canvas, outside of the individuals that inhabit the paintings. In a sense, the individual is a mere by-product of Nature’s events, a souvenir of sorts.

Throughout the years reference to Greek thought has continued as an unbroken theme in his paintings and these new works are no exception. At their very core, the works expose the struggle of human existence: life and death, light and darkness but above all, change. Sierra captures the transitory nature of humanity’s relationship to the world. He does so with a palate of dark, rich colors that commingle with bright yellows, greens and oranges that capture fleeting moments such as when the sun peaks out from behind storm clouds and illuminates everything in it’s path for just a moment before it is suddenly hidden away again. The manner in which Sierra captures light is his way of recognizing the certainty that the only constant is change: "We’re here now, gone tomorrow. The idea of permanence is an illusion."

Please join us at a reception for the artist on Saturday, December 1, 2001 from 5 until 7pm. The exhibition will continue through December 31, 2001. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00am to 6:00pm.