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Michael
Gregory's paintings, icons of the American landscape
radiate a contemporary old master look. Painted in
many layers of oil on panel. His
buildings greet the viewer front and center with power,
boldness, and assertiveness, iconic in their frontality.
Gregory sets the stage for each structure, sometimes
with the suggestion of a landscape-trees, telephone
poles, and always with a dramatic sky, charged with
mystery. These are not tranquil skies; they are evocative,
cloud filled, disquieting ones. The viewer's equilibrium
is further challenged by the absence of any mid-ground
in the artist's work, thus giving little sense of
perspective or scale. While representational, Gregory's
paintings are not "true" to the landscape
vista he has seen. He transforms the reality of a
geometric structure into an icon, a structure that
is the focal point, the subject, the object of the
painting, and a touchstone to contemplation.
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