ORO

September 2 - November 22, 2022

Twentieth Exhibitions is pleased to present Oro by John Eric Byers. This is the artist's 30th career solo show and runs from February 17 - May 20, 2022 with an opening reception on Thursday, February 17 from 5 to 7 pm at our Beverly Boulevard location.

An elegant balance of contrasts takes form in John Eric Byers' new series. Each piece starts with a minimal block of wood, which is then meticulously hand carved across the surface with a series of grooves, breaking up the smoothness of the wood into a pattern that celebrates the beauty of imperfection where the artist's hand is traced along each furrow.

To prevent the grain from being a visual distraction, Byers doesn't finish the wood with stain in a traditional way. Instead, he developed finishes that are opaque in order that the wood is transformed into a medium that is uniquely his own and whose meaning is more mysterious and personal. For the Oro series, Byers explored dozens of variations on the color of gold until finding the perfect one that embodied the meaning and essence he was seeking.

The result is a series of works that are both minimal and richly detailed, modest in form yet elaborate in the deeply textured beauty of their surface.

Each block like form includes a visually compelling open seam that divides the work without breaking it into separate parts, emphasizing the balance of contrasts at play within the whole. As Byers states, “The divisions can also be seen as additions.... bringing unity, solidarity, discipline, repetition, rhythm, balance, harmony, pattern…parts equaling a whole.”

John Eric Byers is a leading American artist working in wood. The Oro series represents his 7th distinct collection over the course of 30 solo exhibitions. His work is in several important permanent collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Arts and Design. His numerous awards include a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award, New York Foundation of the Arts Awards, and inclusion in the Smithsonian's Oral Archives of American Arts.