February At Roq La Rue: Chris Berens, 'Nethermoor' *Re Reception!*

Opening reception, Saturday February 21st, 5-8pm Show runs through Saturday, February 28th Chris Berens "Nethermoor" Chris Berens is a Dutch painter whose work features a fantastical mélange of exotic creatures and 18th century imagery in soft focus. Startling, photorealistic, and distorted; his narratives feature totem-like animals and childlike people floating through dreamy European cityscapes, or decrepit ships in stormy seas shimmering as if in a fevered dream. Building on classical glazing techniques that recall the work of Vermeer and Rembrandt, Berens constructs his compositions through painting on layers of emulsion, 1-3 inch pieces of plastic coating, and paper; resulting in an incredibly luminous and uniquely textured piece that flows seamlessly into a cohesive image. Each section has been been painted numerous times and layered over and over. This technique creates images with such depth that along with his technical perfection it creates the illusion of a digitally composed or manipulated image. However, once up close and in person, it is evident that these works are created and painted by hand with painstaking skill, time, and precision from beginning to end. www.roqlarue.com