There are certain individuals that one speaks of in terms of being larger than life. In the case of Ted Denyer, it is more a sense that he directly enters into life. His state of engaged aliveness, and his inquisitive nature are catalytic to our own experience of personal aliveness. Isn’t this characteristic of the creative energy of art upon us—a kind of awakening to the authentic, which is dormant until the moment recognized. It is perhaps not surprising then to see why it is very difficult to separate Ted, the person, from his work. For me, this is particularly the case since I met them both at the same time over 37 years ago. He and his work have been an inspiration for me in so many ways for many years. His ongoing friendship is a precious gift. It is therefore fitting that the event inaugurating the recently transformed exhibition space at our Conway property should be a show to honor and be honored by Ted’s work.

One cannot be around Ted for very long without experiencing his ever-present focus on the creative process—particularly his devotion to painting, and to his work. This seems to be the one thing in his life that has not come into question. In this way, his life in painting has had, and especially now has, the character of a spiritual quest. Apparently, from a very early time in his life, Ted knew that painting was his path, even if his understanding of what that meant would take many years to ripen. Ted is like the joyous monk, delighted by his god, and especially by his consort—the world of nature and sensual delight. Complicating the matter is an intensely inquisitive mind, manifesting endless possibilities for resolving the creative process.

It seems that through many different periods of Ted’s work there has been a tension between the passion to seek an idealized beauty born out of nature and the erotic, and his conviction that ultimately this will only really satisfy and convince if achieved through a set of refined visual relationships established through the purity of abstract form, space, and color. Therefore the aim of the work has always been grand, and very difficult to achieve. Ted has never backed away from this difficulty, even if at times it has been at the expense of the success of the effort. In the best of the work, the reconciliation of the disparate parts of the self needed to achieve such an aim, harmonize with exquisite transcendence. Often feeling that this hasn’t occurred, Ted will work and rework endlessly with a determination to breakthrough. Many conventionally appealing and satisfying statements have been erased by Ted in this way, sacrificed for deeper discovery. Freshness and ease are not held onto or attached to. Even when one of Ted’s pieces doesn’t work for me, there is so much to get from the work since there is always so much put into it. Ted has often repeated the statement that a work of art does not lie—no more or less than what has been put into it can be gotten from it. Whatever subtle, imperceptible issues or knots that are left unresolved will always remain when revisiting the piece even years later.

This exhibit, opening just after Ted’s 88th birthday, is neither a retrospective or a theme-based show. Rather it is an attempt to present a meaningful representation of Ted’s recent work (which is clearly most important to him) along with a selection of certain favorite pieces from primarily two other periods of Ted’s work. Included are three of the monumental nude-in-nature series, the period of Ted’s work that consumed most of the 60s. During this period he devoted almost a year to each of these ambitious and complex compositions. This became possible after Ted and his family moved out of a NYC apartment into a large carriage house in Irvington, N.Y., where the possibility of a large studio was actualized. Being out of the city, surrounded by nature, somewhat secluded from the subconscious pull of the New York City art world, Ted set out to achieve a uniquely personal vision. This flew in the face of all the existing trends within the art world at the time, which was steeped in the outgrowth of abstract expressionism and the emergence of pop and minimalism. Ted had spent the previous decade or so painting in a fairly cerebral formal abstract manner—fugue-like compositions of complex form and strong flat color (see page 14). Following a brief foray into a spontaneous expressionistic approach, he settled on the work of the 60s, which re-embraced the natural world, but attempted to synthesize those dimensions most important to him—an idealized beauty found in the female form, surrounded by and integrated into a flowering vegetative scene, within which the movement of sensual form is continuously interwoven. At the same time, the formal statement realized through space, form, and color, became the vehicle, and in the end, the real subject matter of the composition. In spite of being related to the natural world, these compositions are somehow outside of ordinary time—separated from our understanding of movement and consequence. There is the possibility here of a time in which nothing apparently happens, but where the moment expands perhaps without limit, within a perfected self-contained universe, whose lifeblood is a deeply felt set of relationships of form and pure flat color.

In addition to the recent work, the other period represented in this exhibit is from the early to the mid-80s—a time of rejuvenation and synthesis for Ted and his work—the period when he seemed to come into his own. This followed a time in Soho, NYC, his home for much of the 70s. During the Soho period, Ted explored a return to abstraction in a way that allowed for a freer approach to composition, bolder form, and color, a more spontaneous and lyrical approach, still staying within the confines of flat colorful forms, playing off the curve against the rhythmic use of border forms (see page 9.) there is an exuberance in this work, which was perhaps a welcome release from the self-imposed discipline of his own form or classicism from the prior period. After leaving Soho and establishing his ultimate home (upon retirement from his job in NYC) in Mt. Tremper, N.Y., surrounded by the foothills of the Catskills, Ted spent the first three years rebuilding his newly acquired modest house into a colorful home and studio. This actualized the possibility that life could now be completely devoted to his painting.

The first major piece from this time “Renewal” is included in this exhibit and is for me one of his most important works (see page 6). Perhaps time away from painting, by necessity, surrounded by a dramatic natural setting, gave rise to a renewed focus. In this new way of working, he seems to blend the beauty of the light of the natural world with the potential of purity of light, manifested through energized abstract forms. Although apparently abstract, these forms become something, although difficult to name. There is an increasing attempt to actualize a composition through a simple set of relationships, although there is nothing simple about how this is achieved. Unlike the Soho period, the painting begins with a drawing and develops from there. So now the love of nature, of abstract formal composition, and pure color, unify and merge in what can be considered the style most characteristic of Ted’s work since this time. During most of the 80s and through the 90s, Ted developed this approach through a series of medium and larger compositions, pushing to the limits the potential of this way of working. At times these pieces lean strongly towards a concentrated extracted experience of a form of nature, encased in an ethereal light from perhaps another dimension, whose illusionistic, suggestive overtones became a powerful kind of subject matter.

At other times the abstract picture plane considerations establish as the more dominant experience. What happens around and at the edges of forms is handled with particular attention and subtlety. These interactions create vibrating energy that conveys a sense that all form is ultimately not solid, and is certainly affecting, and affected by, all other forms’ energy. The presence of sensual delight, and at times erotic overtones, whether consciously or unconsciously established, is a consistent thread. I have believed for a long time that Ted’s work is a kind of spiritual path for him, a meditative and contemplative experience in the creation. At the same time, the ante is raised with respect to all the possible challenges associated with sorting out the relationship to beauty, pleasure, and sexuality, as either a path to knowledge or a distraction rife with pitfalls along the way. It is up to you to decide, but in my opinion, both possibilities are true at the same time and manifest accordingly. So in the best case, we have the possibility of touching the sublime. In any case, Ted’s ballot is cast—with each day of trying to work it all out. His approach is unashamed and uncompromising.

During the last 4–5 years Ted has settled on a single size format for his painting, a modest size by comparison with the larger scale of much of his prior work. during this period he has recently tried “to go deeper”, according to him—and this is what I also observe. This has meant at times a continued attempt to simplify the number of relationships and drive towards something beyond, something rare that needs to be discovered or uncovered. Toward this cause, for a certain time, Ted gave up the beloved curve completely, in an austere attempt not to be seduced by the usual solutions. Many of these pieces have the sense of having an underlying mathematical equation supporting them—an ongoing homage to Mondrian. Fortunately for us, the curve reemerged with a vengeance, and the sensual delight of the sea, the beach, and the sky return as beloved themes.

At the same time, much of this period of Ted’s work is, I believe, very, very difficult, both in terms of what he is setting out to achieve, and his determination not to be readily satisfied with the result. Up to five pieces may be worked on in succession, “finished” provisionally and then worked and reworked over a number of years, perhaps many times. Utilizing the single size format, although partially based on practical considerations, is somehow fitting in relation to the purist in Ted who has dedicated his entire life to a discovery of the nature of the picture plane and its myriad potential. For me, many of these pieces are real gems, and some are at first strange and difficult to accept, but in all cases they are deep and demanding, allowing the viewer to take a meditative journey of discovery.

Coming back to Ted the person. First of all, Ted is an appreciator—of people, of nature and of the greatness of what has been created, particularly by artists, composers, and writers through history. How many times has he reread Henry James or Proust, each time with the wonder of what is being encountered. How the particular achievement of each of the masters has uniquely left its mark on his felt experience is itself an inspiration. This is not academic or antique. Right here and now live Botticelli, Frangelico, Titian, Ingres, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, Stuart Davis, Mondrian, de Kooning. They hover with angelic presence and in some way perhaps have also been a burden—  hard to live up to. For ted also suffers the plight of the romantic, always measuring against the daunting ideal. Just as he takes time with his painting, Ted also has a way of taking time and making time for whatever is in front of him—whether a person, a meal, a conversation, or the solving of a technical problem. How welcome in a rushed world, packed with information, but short on experience. What is for me most striking and telling about Ted the person, as well as ted the artist? It seems that whenever I speak to him after some time has passed since we last talked, he will describe with total enthusiasm and genuine conviction that he is finally really doing something new, important or special with his work. But most importantly what is communicated is the sense of someone who just now, almost for the first time, has fallen in love with the act of creation, and is so totally grateful for the possibility of having this experience. I hope this exhibition is an enjoyable opportunity for Ted, his friends, and family to share the richness of what has been accomplished and what is.