American Turner

November 2008

When it comes to his large, expressive landscapes, Ray Turner turns not to the long history of this genre for inspiration but rather to one line, one simple statement uttered only 50 years ago by the abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. When someone once asked Rothko of his connection to the abstract expressionist movement of his time, he simply replied, “I’m not an abstract painter, I’m painting emotions.” “Well, that just struck me,” says Turner. “I get the idea of abstraction from an intellectual place. But, what abstraction means, though, it’s just too big to grab a hold of it. For me, the simplifi cation and complexity in that one statement really says something. It spoke to my heart and resonated so much. And it’s what I’m trying to do in this new work.” Like Rothko stated so simply, Turner’s paintings are… Read more.