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HARVEY SIBLEY ART
GALLERIES & antiques
HARVEY SIBLEY ART
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High Road to Taos
Born and raised in upstate New York, Harvey Sibley studied art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, following service to his country in the U.S. Navy. Thereafter, he distinguished himself in the seemingly diverse worlds of graphic and restaurant design and abstract painting. While painting was the cornerstone of his life, Sibley enjoyed creative and financial success as a graphic designer and restauranteur in and around Rochester, New York. Hoping to paint more and work less, he moved to Prickly Mountain in Warren, Vermont in the Mad River valley. A sailor since childhood summers on Lake Ontario, Sibley raced his sailboat Gran Cru competitively on Lake Champlain in the summer and skied in the winter.
Sibley was influenced by the New York School of abstract expressionism, particularly James Brooks, a recognized abstractionist and one of his teachers at Pratt. Sibley’s work reflects his fearless exploration of color, shape, and space. He often painted a series of pieces exploring a related theme or method of expression, utilizing at times mixed media, transfer processes, and collage.
While his body of work refuses to yield a singular signature style, each of his works reflects his unique artistic sensibility. He invites each observer to experience his work with their own eye.
Sibley found inspiration for his art in wilderness trekking in Patagonia, northern Spain, the Peruvian Andes, and the Western U.S., as well as urban meanderings through backstreets and promenades of Istanbul, Paris, Barcelona, and Rome. Sabbaticals to the wilds of Utah and New Mexico fueled many of his nature-inspired abstract and representational works.
An active artist until shortly before his death, Sibley was joyful and energized to accept a commission for a mobile, although he had never done three dimension work before. True to form, he created not one but three distinctly different mobiles in his final exploration of color, shape, and space.
Sibley’s work lives on. His Amelia Island waterfront studio gallery is open by appointment by calling (904) 686-4513. It contains a variety of work available for purchase. You may also view his art at Baxter’s Restaurant on Buccaneer Parkway and at HarveySibleyArt.com.