Rocky Mountain rivers subject of paint exhibit at Story Mill gallery
Gary Snyder Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by local artist Ben Miller at the Story Mill Pop-Up Gallery in Bozeman. Ben has developed a unique style of painting that he calls “Fly Cast Painting.” The nineteen paintings in this exhibition take as subject matter the rivers of Colorado and Montana.
Ben Miller celebrates, and intimately paints, rivers, the lifeblood of our land. His paintings present the natural world as a place of pilgrimage, discovery, inspiration, beauty and worship.
Without witnessing Ben paint a painting, it is almost impossible to understand how they are made. He starts by setting up a homemade easel on the banks of a river, upon which he places a sheet of transparent plexiglass. Using traditional fly fishing rods, Ben substitutes handmade “fly-brushes” for conventional hooked flies, saturates them in acrylic paint, and casts from over twenty feet on to the plexiglass. Over the course of a day, he casts over one thousand times, the mark of each cast eventually making up a finished painting of a chosen river.
As if the process wasn’t amazing enough, one comes to realize that Ben, in a sense, paints backwards – the actual finished painting is the reverse of the paint covered transparent polycarbonate. Turned around, the first strikes of the day are “on top” of the painting and the last form the backdrop.
Ben Miller brings together two disparate cultures – fly fishing culture and high art culture – each with much to learn from the other. They breathe new life into an art world struggling to balance art and nature on our rapidly changing and endangered planet.
A percentage of all sales will go to river causes around the world.
Gary Snyder has been an art dealer for over 35 years. His galleries in New York City were known for pioneering American modernist art. He moved to Bozeman two years ago, and continues to advise in fine art acquisition and investment. Snyder worked with acclaimed cameraman Jon Dodson to create over one hour of video content at www.flycastpainting.com, allowing viewers access to the remote rivers that Ben has painted.
Located at 888 Hillside Lane, the Story Mill Pop-Up Gallery is in a raw 10,000 square foot industrial space that is part of the larger historic Story Mill just outside Bozeman. The gallery will be open to the public Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1 – 7pm, and also by appointment. Ben Miller will demonstrate “Fly Cast Painting” at 3pm every Saturday. The exhibit will be on display through Sept. 20th.
For further information, please contact Gary Snyder at gary@flycastpainting.com. •
