Eye-opening: Beerman pulls an ‘About Face’ with exhibit | Arts & Entertainment

How does an established and successful landscape artist try something different without upsetting his legions of fans and admirers? For John Beerman, the answer was right under his nose. The Hillsborough artist, best known for captivating paintings of landscapes and architecture, recently chose to premiere a collection of work that throws a curve to folks expecting his more traditional style, at the Thomas Stevens Gallery. 

“About Face” is a solo exhibit by Beerman, a North Carolina native whose artwork resides in the collections of some of the biggest-name museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the N.C. Museum of Art. Of the more than two-dozen pieces in the show, nine of the paintings reveal the celebrated artist’s clear path toward portraiture, a jaunt that is unexpected, but not unfamiliar to Beerman.

“There have been moments where I delve into this thing outside of the landscape,” he said. “It usually takes the form of some kind of figurative thing. But this (show), in a way, is going back to things I had started back in college days, my interest in color, my interest in (Russian painter Wassily) Kandinsky, and trying to merge that with some figurative stuff.”

Others of his new work are more abstract in nature, but show an exploration of shape and color that is present in each of the paintings.

Beerman, who initially felt the pressure that can come with scheduling an exhibit of new artwork, later saw opening “About Face” in front of the home crowd as an opportunity to share with his community, and one for which he was grateful to Tom Stevens.

“I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce this new work,” Beerman added.

The show has — if you’ll pardon the pun —  turned some heads. 

“I’ve gotten some really good feedback, and from people whose comments I value,” he said. “At one point, there was some concern, like, ‘Hey, you know people are gonna want the landscape,’ and, there are wonderful people who have collected my work over the years. I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, I’m probably going to disappoint them a little bit,’ and I might have. But I hope they understand that one does what one needs to do and you can’t control the response, right? You do what you do and you try to do it well and put it out there, that’s all I can do to remain honest to myself. I mean, you’re following your heart, right?”

“I’m delighted to be showing John’s work at the gallery once again, and thrilled to be the first to introduce his new work,” said Tom Stevens, who owns the gallery. “It’s quite a departure from the landscapes for which he is so well known.”

Beerman said he’s been a painter all his life, recalling childhood days of watching family members paint and having parents who encouraged his creativity with crayons and pastels. His family lived in Greensboro, and while attending a commercial arts class in high school, Beerman ran across a classified ad for Woodstock Country School, a progressive liberal arts prep school in Vermont. A few weeks later, he was enrolled, and he continued his exploration of art mediums, including filmmaking and photography. 

He received his degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His passion for creative expression has led to a 35-year career of satisfying artistic pursuits that have earned him eye-popping levels of recognition. Through all the acclaim, Beerman remains  understated in manner. But his confidence in his skill is what has enabled him to set aside landscapes, if only briefly.

“Not to be immodest, but I feel like I took landscapes as far as I could take them, and I felt like I needed and wanted to bring something from inside,” he said. “Things come up from inside. I look, I judge, I use my intellect, use my knowledge of history and color. Then I’ll go back on top of it, and then I’ll let go of that knowledge and history and color and all that stuff and mess around a bit. So it’s a freer form of painting that, I have to say, I have enjoyed it. 

“It’s very different from the discipline of landscape painting,” Beerman added.

Which is not to say he’s grown bored with landscapes, or that he feels his relationship with the subject has plateaued. Beerman said he sees the “About Face” show and the work that went into it as a release of energy that he was there to follow and shape, using familiar tools, but not always certain of what he would have at day’s end. 

“There’s one (painting) I worked on, and then all of a sudden, I realized it was my mother,” he said. “It’s crazy how somehow the essence of a person can come through without a photographic depiction of that person. That intrigues me a little bit. I think that’s cool.”

“His new works — abstracts, color studies, merged with portraits — they glow, they’re wonderful,” added Stevens. “I’m happy to say they are being appreciated and picked up by collectors. Recently, I’ve been seeing many established artists, myself included, digging into their art in ways that break from their established body of work. It’s hard to describe how scary that can be for artists. John is an inspiration about fearlessly going for it and being true to the work. It shows in his new pieces.”

In addition to “Libba,” the portrait resembling his mother, the exhibit includes portraits of Beerman’s father, grandfather, partner Tori Reynolds, and writer Allan Gurganus.

John Beerman’s “About Face” will be on exhibit through March 15, at the Thomas Stevens Gallery at 126 W. King St. in downtown Hillsborough.