OREXART. Oedipus Rex Gallery. Auckland, New Zealand.

DEAN TERCEL This Life, We Dreamt 17 August - 4 September 2010
How could anyone know how I feel oil on linen, 85 x 75 cm
In This Life, We Dreamt - his ninth solo show since 1990 - Dean Tercel is emerging as a highly engaging and thoughtful painter. In these new paintings, Tercel's increasing skill and sophisticated storytelling lead us deeper into the ‘lives’ of his subjects. The portraits now incorporate personal possessions, cherished photographs, favourite toys, post-it note messages and intimate thoughts, even favourite snacks. These are fictional lives perhaps, but stories we can nonetheless put faces to. Here we are witness to the silent gaze, the unspoken thought, the timelessness of the captured moment. We imagine ourselves being there, sharing a thought, answering a question, experiencing the quiet intimacy of the moment. Artist, subject and viewer are all held together by those elusive and magical materials: oils on canvas.
Once I could hop oil on linen, 7.5 x 10 cm	Vanitas oil on linen, 15 x 20 cm
The weight of doubt oil on linen, 115 x 85 cm	Memories caught in her eyes oil on linen, 55 x 50 cm
Artist statement
"Art cannot be modern: art is eternal" - Egon Schiele The term 'modern art' can be misleading, making people think in terms of styles, 'isms' and the abandonment of preceding art. Contemporary art is a more desirable term and although my paintings are figurative works in oil paint on stretched linen, which has been foolishly derided as 'dead art', they are indeed contemporary - using contemporary materials and featuring people and mementos sharing this life with me. For centuries artists have sought the 'poetics of paint' to embrace and capture the life around them, none more notably than the Dutch School of the Baroque Period (1600 - 1750). With an intimate naturalism and technical flair they captured the Dutch life of their time. More than mere documentation, these paintings exude human feeling and were described by the 19th century critic Theophile Thore as "an art for mankind". This approach to painting is a tradition I choose not to abandon. Their influence can be seen in my painting, not in the form of direct imitation or quotation, but through investigation of their command of light, composition, harmonic tone and brushwork I have sought to add depth to my own practice, utilising the long-established tradition of learning from the past to inform the present, enabling me to better express my thoughts and feelings.
A small drama oil on linen, 15 x 15 cm	Once loved oil on linen, 15 x 20 cm
Lament for an imagined childhood oil on linen, 115 x 75 cm
The above works are only a selection of those exhibited. Please contact us for pricing and availability.
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