- LYLE JAMES SALMI.
- ABSTRACT ARTIST.
- DECATUR. IL. UNITED STATES.
About Lyle J. Salmi:
Salmi’s paintings invoke a style that can be characterized as “Abstract Impressionism”, as they explore the reality between the physicality of a painterly surface and the suggestion of light and space somewhere beyond… Salmi grew up enjoying the bountiful lakes, streams, and wilderness areas of northeastern Minnesota. It was the lasting impressions of this environment, along with living in the desert southwest, and visits to coastal Maine that have been infused with his understanding of contemporary abstract painting to lay the foundations for his abstract impressions of light and form. The artist enjoys part of the summer at his cabin on Bear Island Lake, a place that his family has owned since 1962. Salmi has also visited coastal Maine, and takes his inspiration from the beauty of the natural settings of the sea, shore, and forests. Salmi’s paintings reveal his influences by artists such as Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell, Wolf Kahn, and Susan Rothenberg. Salmi’s paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and his work is in both private and public collections including Kennebunk State Bank, J.L. Hubbard, LL. Bean, Edward Jones, Anheuser Busch, Illinois State University, The Quincy Art Center, and The Rochester Institute of Technology. Salmi is represented by Elizabeth Moss Gallery in Falmouth, Maine and Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor, Maine.
Artist Statement:
My paintings explore specific qualities of light as both an observed experience and as a phenomenon of memory of place. Sometimes I recall the expectant light of a moisture infused morning. Other times I think about the retreating warmth in the light of early evening. Along with the specificity of the type of light in each painting, there is also a sense of the universal in that the paintings are not depicting any particular view of scenery. Rather they serve as an archetype to the process of painting itself, with the insistence of gestural brush strokes confirming the overall idea of the painting as an abstraction first and foremost. These are abstract paintings rooted in the here and now by making use of both observed light and a remembered sense of space. Deliciously close, yet deliriously distant…like the mirage… approaching the edge of recognition, yet careful to remain untouchable…it is in this phenomenological space between the known and the unknown, that my paintings find life. My artistic influences include, but are not solely limited to: Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre Bonnard, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Susan Rothenberg.
Awards/Honors:
–2014 Awarded Millkin University Research/Artistic Activity Award. –2012 Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Art Light, Space, & Time Online Gallery Exhibition, Nature Art. –2009 Visiting Artist Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois. –2008 Residency Fellowship The Anderson Center for the Arts, Red Wing, Minnesota. –1998 Honorable Mention Award 12th Illinois Biennial Exhibition Tarble Arts Center, Charleston, Illinois –Residency Fellowship The Hambidge Center for the Arts, Rabun Gap, Georgia. –1994 Fellowship. Arts Midwest/NEA Fellowship in Painting. –1993 Jurors Merit Award. Drawing Into The 90s National Exhibition, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas. –1992 Honorable Mention. Award New Directions ’92, North Shore Art League, Chicago, Illinois.
Collections:
– Kennebunk State Bank – The Rochester Institute of Technology – The L.L. Bean Family – The Anheuser Busch Family – The Center For Entrepreneurship, Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois. – Barbara Rice, Appleton, Wisconsin. – Lawrence University Paper Fox Press, Appleton Wisconsin. – Virginia Shafter, St. Louis, Missouri. – Dr. Magnolia Hallam, Forsyth, Illinois. – McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, Illinois. – Normal Editions Workshop, Illinois State University, Normal Illinois. – J.L Hubbard Insurance & Bonds, Decatur, Illinois. – Hambidge Center for the Arts, Rabun Gap, Georgia – Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois. – Pratt & Pratt Law Offices, Decatur, Illinois. – Quincy Art Center, Quincy, Illinois. – University of South Florida Print Exchange, Tampa, Florida. – Gallery 510, Decatur, Illinois – Bizou Restaurant, Decatur, Illinois. – Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Stimac, Eveleth, Minnesota. – Steve and Bonnie Anderson, Virginia, Minnesota. – Mr. and Mrs Tom Griffith, Decatur, Illinois. – – Mr. and Mrs Jeffrey Geisler, Mt Zion, Illinois.
ARTWORKS FOR SALE BY LYLE J. SALMI