BIO

    Bryan Keith Lanier is an American painter currently based in Montreal, Quebec. He started his artistic journey with a successful career as a glass artist(engraver, stained glass designer, Tiffany restorer) followed by nearly a decade in the television, film and theming industries as a scenic artist working with the best art directors and crafts people in the business. All through his career, Lanier developed his unique skill-set and approach to fine art with long nights in the studio, his nature-inspired work evolving intuitively through much trial and experimentation. In 2006, he heeded the call of fine art, did his first solo exhibition and never looked back. Working from his studio on Montreal’s Plateau, he paints nearly every day. He is constantly pushing his own boundaries while challenging the sensibilities of the art-establishment with his unconventional approach.

   Unlike most artists, Lanier makes no claims of reference to art history in his abstract work; turning instead to nature and the passage of time for inspiration. The mineralized deposits on a cliff-face left by millions of years of exposure to the elements, rust, the patina of corroded metal, oxidization... Lanier finds beauty in the decay(and renewal) of the earth itself. The chemical reactions between elements reveal infinite combinations of color and texture,  evoking instinctive and emotional responses in the viewer.

  As opposed to composing each piece, Lanier is creating a set of circumstances in which they can “occur". The paintings are created using techniques intended to simulate natural processes while avoiding any sort of contrivance. Slowly built up in many transparent layers, Lanier’s paintings are full of texture. He uses real metallic dusts and leafing, interference, metallic, and iridescent paints combined with an unorthodox chemistry to create his “reaction” art... often using oil, acrylic and chemicals together to achieve unprecedented effects on each surface. The works are finished with fine art quality, high-gloss resin(often applied in multiple coats). This simultaneously beautifies the artwork and makes it permanent adding to the aesthetic by giving it the impression of a wet surface or polished stone.

                                                                                        Xavier Raymond