the light-the shade – Robert Lax

Painter Abbey Ryan Talks about Her Series of Meditations on Lax’s “the light, the shade”

kohlakoura beach, lipsi, greece (the light / the shade), oil on linen on panel, 5×4 inches, 2017, painting by Abbey Ryan, from her website

Painter Abbey Ryan has spent a half-dozen years creating postcard-size oil paintings inspired by Robert Lax’s book-length poem “the light, the shade.” She painted many of the images in the series in 2017 while living on the Greek island of Patmos, near where Lax spent the last years of his life.

In this video, Ryan talks about how Lax’s attention to simplicity and presence has inspired her in her painting and approach to life. The video also shows a beautifully designed display of her Lax-inspired work at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania.

published by Pendo-Verlag, 1989, currently unavailable

Recently Opened: An Exhibition of Paintings Inspired By Lax’s Poetry

Painter Abbey Ryan, whose parents were friends of Lax, traveled to Patmos in 2017 to visit his former home and complete a series of paintings loosely based on his poem “the light / the shade.” Now, 14 landscapes and still lifes from that series are on display in the Quick Center at St. Bonaventure University in Lax’s hometown, Olean, NY. The show runs March 25-June 2, 2019. Abbey will be on campus Thursday, April 11 for a 3 p.m. gallery talk.

You’ll find full information about the exhibit here–and more about Abbey and her Lax project here. If you like what you see and read, check out Abbey’s website, where you can view (and purchase!) more of her magnificent works.

Abbey’s work has been featured in a number of publications, including Oprah Magazine, Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensible?, FOX’s Good Day Philadelphia, BoingBoing, Artists & Illustrators, Making It In the Art World, New Markets For Artists, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her art is in more than 1,300 private and museum collections on six continents.

Luminous Paintings Inspired by Lax’s “the light — the shade”

A few days ago, I received an email from a young painter named Abbey Ryan, who embarked several years ago on a series of paintings inspired by Robert Lax’s poem “the light — the shade.” Among the things Abbey told me were that her father, a Merton scholar, once corresponded with Lax, her middle name is Merton, and her childhood drawings might have been part of the mosaic on Lax’s wall on Patmos.

Abbey’s light/shade series is marvelous, with a simplicity and luminosity that make these paintings a lovely and fitting homage to Lax. You can view them–and even bid for them–on her website.

You can read her original post about the series (from December 2012) here.

And if you’re interested in taking online painting classes from Abbey, you’ll find more information here.

Video-Poem Based on a Robert Lax Work Wins Top International Prize–Watch It Here

A video based on Robert Lax’s poem “the light, the shade,” created by Susanne Wiegner of Germany, recently won the top prize in an international competition at the CYCLOP Videopoetry Festival in Kiev, Ukraine. You can watch Susanne’s winning video (with Lax reading his own poem) and other videos she has made based on Lax’s poetry here.

To learn more about Susanne, go to her website.