Douglas Fryer: Solo Exhibition of Poetic New Landscape Paintings at Meyer Gallery

For his 2022 solo exhibition at Meyer Gallery, Utah artist Douglas Fryer presents a new body of work titled Momentary Reflections, revealing poetic moments in nature near the artist’s home or on previous travels abroad. Inspired by the John Steinbeck quote, “All great and precious things are lonely,” Fryer paints quiet subjects from the landscape that may otherwise go unnoticed, such as a wooded stream in winter or fallen piece of fruit. These discoveries provide the artist with feelings of respite and introspection, which he then fluidly captures in his paintings with rich texture and subtle abstraction. Momentary Reflections opens on Friday, June 24th with an opening reception from 5-7pm. 

"There is poetry hidden in unremarkable places, in ordinary moments, and in memories we accumulate and distill,” says Fryer. “As we reflect upon this poetry, giving it consideration and form, the resulting work must be a reflection of what is true about ourselves, and what we value most in our loneliest introspection.”

For Momentary Reflections, Fryer presents paintings that reach up to 72” in size as well as smaller, more intimate pieces. These “great and precious moments” hang side by side in the gallery, with subjects ranging from awe-inspiring landscapes to serene floral still lifes. Regardless of subject matter, Fryer approaches his paintings as a play between abstraction and realism, transitioning between the two in ways that strike an emotional response from the viewer. Each work is developed using various processes, techniques, and tools as the artist aims to mimic our perception of a place, rather than depict its stark reality.

Fryer’s exhibited paintings represent his local environment in rural Utah as well as locations in England and Ireland. While it’s been years since the western artist traveled internationally, he often considers ideas and designs for long periods of time before deciding how to approach them in a painting. Fryer references his own photography when he paints, while adding and subtracting elements based on personal memory, observation, and emotion.

Fryer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois as well as California. Fryer ultimately returned to Utah where he received his BFA and MFA from Brigham Young University over 40 years ago. His work now hangs in private and public collections across the country, and he has taught painting at several schools and universities including BYU, the University of Hartford in Hartford Connecticut, and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He currently lives with his family in Spring City, Utah.

Artwork is also available to view online at meyergalleries.com.