Terry Rodgers - Boundaries of Desire

The Calligraphy of Disproportionate Advantage

17 May to 13 September 2009
This summer, the Scheringa Museum of Realist Art in Spanbroek will organise the first European museum exhibition solely devoted to the American painter Terry Rodgers (1947). Rodgers, who exhibits his work around the world, is as talented as he is controversial. His very realistic and dynamic figurative pieces depict a world in which the 'young and beautiful' occupy a prominent place. However, the wealth, beauty and promiscuity cannot conceal the emptiness of their lives.
With twenty large paintings and a number of sketches, the museum will present an overview of Rodgers' unique oeuvre as it has developed over the past ten years. The artist will attend the opening of the exhibition on Sunday, 17 May at 17:00.

The Fluid Matrix of Bounded Latitudes

Rodgers depicts his own vision of our times. In his hyper-realistic style and vividly baroque use of colour, he paints portraits of disturbing family relationships and an initially attractive young jet set. However, the initial allure of this luxurious fictional world serves only to veil the artist's true subject: the tension between desire and loneliness. In his carefully composed fictions - the paintings are not based on actual events, but are purely imaginary - Rodgers presents us with a world in which no one seems to be able to truly have contact with one another. The viewer sees a beauty that is as inviting as it is repugnant, in which the figures exude boredom, loneliness and a yearning for human contact.

The Axis of Love

"My paintings are large, complex designs that attempt to reflect my sense of the times we are living in and both how richly interesting they are and how difficult it is for most of us to navigate their uncharted waters." Terry Rodgers
Rodgers' oeuvre is representative of contemporary realism that has been ascendant since the 1990s. The Scheringa Museum for Realist Art keeps abreast of today's international figurative movements, and the manner in which this artist expertly translates his contemporary character studies into oil on canvas fits perfectly into the museum's exhibition and collection policy. The museum currently has three paintings by Terry Rodgers in its permanent collection.

Dimensions of Ambiguity / THE BOOK

On the occasion of Boundaries of Desire, the first European survey exhibition of US realist painter TERRY RODGERS running from May 17 through September 13 at the Scheringa Museum, Spanbroek, the Netherlands, TORCH Books is pleased to announce the release of Dimensions of Ambiguity a new comprehensive full-color catalogue of new works by RODGERS who is emerging as one of the most challenging visual artists working today. In addition to Dimensions of Ambiguity, TORCH Books presents Terry Rodgers – Drawings a limited special edition portfolio (50) with RODGERS’ drawings including one original signed by the artist.

The Resonance of Ungrounded Reality

Dimensions of Ambiguity includes more than 50 new works — selected in conjunction with the artist. It is accompanied by ‘The blessing and curse of sex appeal –You just might get what you ask for’, an insightful critical essay by Dr. Eva Karcher, the acclaimed author of Otto Dix, 1891-1969: His life and works (Taschen, 2002). In this piece Dr. Karcher investigates the ambiguities of contemporary desire as portrayed by RODGERS; and provides a thorough art historical background to its iconography and the artist’s working methods. Dimensions of Ambiguity alternates views of Rodgers’ new paintings in their whole with chosen details and close-ups. In this manner the reader is able to appreciate the fragmented and delicate brushwork that underlies Rodger’s grandes machines, which remains invisible to the distant eye.

And Then There Were None, 1999

Terry Rodgers – Drawings is a select portfolio published in a limited edition of 50. It presents a selection of 50 drawings on loose sheets, accompanied by ‘Graphic Delight’, a critical essay by Belgian art critic Catherine Somzé, author of Who’s Afraid of Leni Riefenstahl? (fall 2009). Each portfolio is numbered and includes an original drawing signed by the artist.
Dimensions of Ambiguity is a 112 page hardcover color exhibition catalogue of RODGERS’ new paintings published by TORCH Books, Amsterdam, with the generous support of Galerie Nicola von Senger, Zurich and the Scheringa Museum for Realism, Spanbroek.

Standing Watch

The renowned Dutch design studio SMEL is responsible for the art direction and design of the book as well as the limited edition drawing portfolio. The photo portrait of Terry Rodgers is courtesy of Wouter Deruytter. Lithography, printing & binding has been executed by Drukkerij Mart.Spruijt, Amsterdam. Dimension
s of Ambiguity isβÂ¨printed on GO silk 150 grs. and Oxford 70 grs.