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Style Magazine, July 22, 1997
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A R T S
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L E I S U R E
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QUIET VISIONS
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…David Bromley also engages in observation
of natural phenomena, here painting still lifes and interiors in particular
light conditions as did the French post-impressionists VuiIlard and Bonnard.
Bromley varies his faithfulness towards optical reality, and in his best
paintings, he stretches the visual “truth” to extremes to serve his eccentric
composition style. Proportion and perspective are especially distorted
to the point of extreme tension. Accouterments appear to teeter on tabletops,
which in turn are supported by line-thin legs. With terra firma undermined,
Bromley is free to abstract the physical world to a wobbly geometric space
station, while preserving the delight of earthly light as it trips around
these strange corners. Despite Bromley’s skill at composition and his
success at representation without succumbing to the pressures of realism,
his painting comes off as tentative, even awkward, at times. This painter
may overcome a confidence problem and do something big; then again, he
may be deliberately keeping the viewers on their toes. Either way, he’s
doing plenty that’s right. (Small lithographs hung here by Bromley pale
next to his paintings.) Bromley is billed as an ‘impressionist’ for this
show. A better description might be ‘contortionist’. - Paulette Roberts-Pullen |
| Straining the
visual “truth” to its limits: David Bromley’s oil-on-canvas “South of Spain.” |