Concord, NC- As a young man Paul Keysar studied oil
painting at the Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. There, at the
oldest art school in America, Keysar
enjoyed a rigorous curriculum with an acute focus on technique. In his third year the artist
yearned for a new experience with the arts and went to study under Carolyn
Egeli, a landscape and portrait artist in Southern Maryland, the area he grew
up in. The beautiful landscape of the area, creeks emptying into the Potomac
River in quiet rural settings, inspired the artist to combine his original love
of the figure with paintings of the land around him.
The cost of living in Maryland, and family ties in
North Carolina, brought Keysar to the Charlotte region where he maintains a
work space at Concord's Clearwater Artist Studios. A young man with a young
family, the artist is concerned that, "The arts are the first to go and
the last to return when the economy goes down." But he contends that,
"People's lives are enriched by the arts," and he works every day he
can to promote them.
Keysar's work has paid off, he has made some lovely
contributions to the local art community. In January of this year the painting
of his son, Jacob, appeared on the
cover of Carolina Arts.
The artist's work is currently displayed at the Cabarrus
Arts Council in the exhibit, Human Nature. In July of this year the artist will be premiering
his show of regional oil paintings at the UNCC,
Student Union Art Gallery, in an exhibit entitled: While the City Sleeps.
The artist's most recent work from the
"Night" series is of a Christmas tree-lot in the area. The scene
depicts an utterly Southern motif, an RV parked in front of a snow-free lot,
offering Christmas trees for sale. Lit only by the artificial light of a
streetlamp, the painting encourages the viewer to place himself at the artist's
vantage point. "The light, moonlight and artificial, shines in the
darkness to reveal what is hidden. It brings the viewer into the scene, calms
the fear, gives warmth to the coldness." The artist recalls roaming his
friend's farms in childhood, relaxing in the cool evenings by running streams
and the, "Feeling of uncertainty the night brings and the way man adds
light to settle the fears that can come with it."
The effect of artificial light and other human
influence is often present in Keysar's work. The recent series of paintings,
"Conquest" reveals man's relationship with the earth, "Man's
hand is everywhere, his dominance is apparent." The influence for the
"Conquest" series arose from a painting of the artist's friend in a
field. The man holds a gun he has never fired in a work titled Green. Much
of the work in the "Conquest" series requires the viewer to transmit
his or herself into the artist's world, to perceive the land in its barely
touched state.
The artist offers classes locally and he wants
aspiring artists to know, "If you want to be a better painter draw, draw,
draw."
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