Artists Find The Beauty In Paying Attention

Frank Bruckmann paints the sky to convey a sense of the clouds roiling overhead; perhaps it’s getting dark, or threatening rain, or both. In the dimness, the lights in the painting are blurred by atmosphere. Metal signs gleam in the reflected light. Bruckmann gives it all emotion and loving attention, which makes it all the more interesting that his subject isn’t a beautiful landscape, or an important person, but a snarl of traffic on I‑95.

The painting is part of ​“Seminal Journey,” a show of Bruckmann’s paintings and Gar Waterman’s sculptures running now at Kehler Liddell Gallery through June 23. The pairing of artists proves inspired. Both Bruckmann and Waterman apply rigorous artistic skill to unlikely subjects, helping viewers to look again at something they might otherwise pass by. And as both artists draw from their local environments, the show as a whole has something to say about New Haven County.

Bruckmann’s part of the show is an ​“anthem to riding the highways with a series painted from the driver’s seat. Focused on the journey itself, this body of work results in paintings that are so energized and texture laden, it’s like rush hour on the canvas,” an accompanying note states. ​“The first step is to pore over the hundreds of photos that I have taken while traveling the highways,” Bruckmann is quoted as saying about how he makes his paintings. ​“Next is looking for the most interesting design using the relationships of cars, trucks, and bridges, combining various photos to create a new image and a stronger composition. … [then] the process of using the paint to subtly sculpt the color onto the canvas, while building up textures layer over layer, continues, until the desired effect is accomplished.”

There’s a sly humor in applying refined painting techniques to scenes of traffic, but there’s something deeper going on, too. Bruckmann’s attention to detail means that his scenes are instantly recognizable, whether it’s an intersection downtown, the Merritt Parkway tunnel under West Rock, or the interchange of Route 8 and I‑84 in Waterbury. The paintings aren’t just an anthem to the highways, but to the places around them, and the fleeting beauty you can see from the road. The paintings also point out how, most of the time, we perhaps zone out a little too much when driving, which is a strange mental state to be in considering how often most of us do it. What would happen if we actually lived in those moments more?

Similarly, Waterman’s ​“feral seed sculptures are inspired by the genesis of exquisite organic forms, and become an art/science conversation in stone. Waterman’s sculpture is inspired by the intoxicating beauty of the natural world and throughout his career, Gar has applied his artistic voice to issues that challenge our world’s ecological balance and future. He further believes we should switch our focus and not look to the earth for what we can extract from it, but instead on how nature has sustained and inspired us.”

By blowing up the seeds to monumental size, Waterman allows us to appreciate details on them we might not otherwise see. By rendering them in polished stone, he points out that seeds are simply beautiful shapes, as worthy of preservation and contemplation as the human form. Like Bruckmann, Waterman asks us to be mindful at times when we might otherwise not be. The artists’ works meet in interesting ways; after all, the trees Bruckmann depicts in his paintings came from somewhere. Taken together, both artists remind us that we affect our environment and our environment affects us, whether we’re aware of it or not — even (especially?) if we’re zipping by at 70 miles per hour.

“Seminal Journey” runs at Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., through June 23. Visit the gallery’s website for details and more information.