SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Brian Gross Fine Art announces an exhibition of abstract paintings by Bay Area artist, Donald Feas閘. Feas閘’s dynamic new works are linear gestures of poured acrylic paint on unprimed canvas. The speed and trajectory of Feas閘’s lines and the rawness of the materials ensure a result that is spontaneous and definitive. Cannery Park Paintings will be on view through August 23, 2014.

Using thinned acrylics, Feas閘 squeezes the paint directly from the bottle onto unstretched canvas, allowing the raw surface to grab the paint with a clarity and immediacy. The inky blacks accented by splashes of sharp colors interweave and unravel in linear streams and drizzles that bound across the surface. Minimal in their structure, but energetic in their formation, the marks dart from one spot to the next, tracing a map of Feas閘’s movements. Employing a compositional process that is purely additive, Feas閘 relies on chance and risk to push the boundaries of his control. Feas閘 states, “These paintings leave all my decisions exposed. A do or die approach. A house of cards.”

Directly influenced by scientific graphics of charted physical phenomena, Feas閘 aims to abstractly capture the aspects of energy and anatomy. Operating on an automatic methodology advocated by the surrealists that probe and exercise the unconscious, Feas閘 paints with a freedom and sincerity impervious to pretense. Utilizing primitive tools and materials, Feas閘 ensures this outcome of pure, unaffected physicality.

Donald Feas閘 is an accomplished Bay Area painter. Originally from Los Angeles, he received his BA from UCLA in 1976, and studied with Elmer Bischoff at the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his MFA in 1984. His work has been included in numerous Bay Area exhibitions, and he is represented in the collections of the di Rosa Preserve, Napa, and the San Jose Museum of Art. Feas閘 lives in San Jose where he is a lecturer at San Jose State University.