THE GOLDEN EYE
American Art Collector|November 2022
Julio Reyes captures poignant moments on the precipice of change.
MICHAEL PEARCE
THE GOLDEN EYE

It is true, without untruth, certain, and most true’ that Julio Reyes is the greatest living master of egg tempera. During the isolation of the pandemic, he was somehow blessed by the curse of Covid-kissed solitude that dragged others down but raised him to the height of excellence, for his recent works are quiet miracles of memory, a bright and innocent world of boys and girls in sunlight, created in his alembic studio, and born from mediation and adaptation.

The real magic of his medium is in the finish, which is a uniquely delicate balance of layered strength and softness, and there is something of the alchemist in Reyes’ preparation. The beginning of the work is a metaphor for birth and death, and life and light, and it is a ritual of preparation, of silence, of reverence. Standing quietly in his studio, he cracks a fragile egg, separating the lunar white from the golden sun of yolk. He cups the yolk in his palm, and the white slips away, then he gently pierces the delicate membrane with the point of a knife and lets the yellow liquid leak from the sack into a small bowl. He stirs in a little distilled water, and mixes this medium with small scoops of pigment pulled from a rainbow row of beautiful bags of color, mixing some of the smooth paint he will use to create the dreamy summer world of memory.

Slowly, an image emerges on his easel. It is an elemental scene distilled in the platonic palace of metaphors and allegories—as things are in the heavens above, they are here below in Reyes’ studio. A collective memory of a child floating in the flow of a rippled river, his face gently held above the cool water by warm and golden sunshine. Delicate and fragile, the dreamy spirits of airy lacewings and fireflies drift over him, carried in the currents of the wind.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2022 من American Art Collector.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2022 من American Art Collector.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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American Art Collector

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The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University exhibits Simon Dinnerstein's The Fulbright Triptych haunts the visual lexicon of 20th century American representational art. Fifty years have passed since Dinnerstein completed the painting in 1974.

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A City Perspective
American Art Collector

A City Perspective

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Living Legacy
American Art Collector

Living Legacy

The Butler Institue hosts Allied Artists of America's 110th Annual Juried Exhibition.

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Elegant yet Approachable
American Art Collector

Elegant yet Approachable

The second edition of the RTIA Show presents even more art to explore and expanded special programming.

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Figuratively Speaking
American Art Collector

Figuratively Speaking

New York has always been an epicenter of artists on the edge of excellence, pushing the envelope and finding their voices.

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JAMES AYERS: The Importance of Play
American Art Collector

JAMES AYERS: The Importance of Play

Like many artists, James Ayers' work took a turn during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seeing the enjoyment his kids took from playing with paint in his studio and exploring their creativity inspired him.

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2 mins  |
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GINA MINICHINO: Playing with Food
American Art Collector

GINA MINICHINO: Playing with Food

Gina Minichino started her journey in visual arts because of Charles Schulz. \"He was my earliest influence for drawing and the reason I wanted to be a cartoonist,\" she says.

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2 mins  |
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Island Light
American Art Collector

Island Light

The Cuttyhunk Island Artists' Residency is held in a sprawling, 100-year-old house on an island off the southern coast of Massachusetts.

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2 mins  |
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Solitary Forms
American Art Collector

Solitary Forms

Hogan Brown has been working with Arcadia Contemporary for two and half years and is excited to be featured in his first solo show at the gallery. He doesn't take for granted the many talented figurative painters Arcadia represents and is thrilled to be among them.

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2 mins  |
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Living the Dream
American Art Collector

Living the Dream

Counterintuitively, David Gluck was a painter before taking up tattooing little more than a decade ago. While skin is a completely different substrate and ink a far cry from oil paint, the skills must be transferrable to some degree because there is a wait-time of nine months to get an appointment with him.

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