Max Ernst Greis at Lux Institute

By Patricia Frischer

From Sept 12, to Oct. 31
Lux Art Institute1550 S. El Camino Real Encinitas, CA 92024 

A native New Yorker, Max Ernst Greis completed his BFA in painting at the School of Visual Arts in 2005, and his MFA in painting at Hunter College in 2014.

Greis deals with themes of a changing world by showing you those actual changes through a process he has developed springing from his love of landscapes. This very special process starts with a series of video clips all bases on the same imagined view. He then paints that view in vibrant colors and when the video clips are projected on top of the image, you can see smoke whisping, trains moving, fish rising. But the painted canvas gives a depth to the work that you would never experience with just a projected image.  The clips are blended and  each work runs on a loop so by looking at the works, some as long as 15 minutes, you see the full effect. He call this Archaic Armageddon. These are not embellished movies and they are not just technical wonders. They remain somehow art works. Greis says he knows artist that are highly involved in using new technology exclusively, but he feels more comfortable in this between land.

 For the Lux residency, Gries has recorded  the train trip he he took from New York to San Diego, He is creating one of his unique landscapes that is part painting, part photo collage and part video. The composition does not go from right to left or left to right but from a foreground on the East Coast to a distant vista on the West Coast. It reminded me of Saul Steinberg's famous View of the World from 9th Avenue cover for New Yorker from 1976.

He has been working on landscapes for about 10 years but just started this new techniques in the last five years. He continues to make non animated landscapes as well and a selection of both are on view. It would be fun to see if this talented young artist progresses to some virtual reality images viewable on smart devices. He is certainly one to watch.Make sure and scroll down to the end where you can see both the still and animated version of one work.

If you have facebook, then go to this link to see the animated version of this last image: https://www.facebook.com/maxernstgreis/videos/vb.1442418822663645/1559139537658239/?type=2&theater