Philip Noyed Expressionist Paintings

Bright colors and distinctive forms leap off the canvas in a dynamic orchestration of energy and texture.

You find yourself caught in high voltage compositions pulled in by the extraordinary range of mood and character.

Then, you discover the story behind the work, the idea that is explored.

Each painting is a revelation of the human spirit. A powerful modern Mandala that reveals more to you the longer you spend with the work. Signs and symbols abound in a complex dance of action and reaction.

Multicultural story telling

Prometheus Taking the Fire, Pandora's Magic Box 2009 oil on canvas 42" x 24" Prometheus is such a fascinating figure in Greek mythology.

While a god, he is said to have fashioned humans out of clay.

He stole fire from Zues and gave the fire to humans. Zues sent Pandora to earth with her box of ills in retribution. While many artists have created works based on Prometheus such as Jacob Jordaens, c. 1640, many concentrated on the image of Prometheus having his liver eaten out by an eagle as Zues' punishment for taking the fire.

My painting is at the point of taking the fire and giving it to humans, Prometheus as light giver to humankind. Pandora holds her box closed in this painting. The ills contained in the box form a diametric opposite from the flame that Prometheus holds. This painting has Zues in the upper left corner and humans are on looking throughout the painting.

Philip's work traverses many cultures and ideas. Philip has lived in state of Minnesota for most of his life. He lived in Japan for three years and studied hand-made ceramics, calligraphy and classical Noh Theater performance while living there. He was the first American to perform on the Tokyo Noh Theater stage. He has traveled to museums throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

His paintings reflect this cultural wanderlust. Stories range from Sol Invictus and the fall of the Roman Emporer Aurelian, a Terracatta Warrior from the grave of the Chinese emporer Qin, Tibetan Buddhism, Kundalini, to an exploration of the archetypes of the mind using a combination of Christian and Islamic elements.

Artist Philip Noyed is forging a bold new direction in expressionist art Philip's paintings, however, are not a travelogue of postcard images. Rather, his works are primarily concerned with broad ideas of philosophy, myth, religion, physics and dance. These works reveal a semiological surveyor combining symbols in often unexpected ways. Philip also writes commentaries and poems that further elaborate on the concepts portrayed in the work.

He finds an affinity with abstraction because of the ability of abstract art to push towards a universal language.

Exploring the musicality of painting Ideas of musical composition influence the visual structure and tempos of Philip's paintings.

Powerful visual themes and contrapuntal themes are heightened through the use of chromaticism and carefully balanced harmony of forms and colors.

Philip is a proponent of the living brush. His brush strokes further articulate the musicality of the piece through the manner of applying paint to the canvas. From strong, long lines to short, staccato strokes to luscious vibrato brush strokes, each adds a voice to the overall composition.

Jupiter 41 - Mozart's Reverie - 2009 2009 oil on canvas 48" x 36" Wolfgang Amadeaus Mozart completed the Symphony Number 41 on August 10, 1788. It was his last symphony. Later, it was nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony. While he wrote Symphony 41, he was broke and destitute, sending letters pleading for money. Yet, even with the heavy burdens of financial despair, his symphony 41 is light and ethereal, beautiful and melodic.

My painting shows Mozart in reverie composing the 41st Symphony. The heaviness and gravity of Jupiter forms the background of the painting. Mozart was a Free Mason. Architecture and composing music come together in Mozart. I use Free Mason Symbols such as the seeing eye in the triangle and Euclid's 47th Proposition using squares in the painting.

Paintings often take on musical themes such as his paintings: Bach's Toccata in F: Kundalini Rising, Jupiter 41: Mozart's Reverie, Love Song - The Polychromatic Music Score.

Ch'i energy Philip is influenced by the Chinese idea of Ch'i energy. Ch'i energy forms the unifying element of the work. In essence, all areas of the canvas - form, color, plane and brush stroke - are dynamic Ch'i energy fields. The aim of the painting is to bring to life the Ch'i energy/spirit residing in each and every form while finding the harmonic balance of all forms (including "negative spaces") in the painting. For him, the classical idea of realistic depiction is less important than capturing the emotional spirit he intends to portray. Form is the result of concentrated energy of the painted brushstrokes and color; together these create the emotional intensity of the idea.

Form, Noh Dance, Yoga Form has been a central focus for Philip. His study of Japanese Noh theater when he lived in Japan taught him how to recreate dances developed in the Muromachi period (1336-1575) and passed down from generation to generation. Philip was the first American to perform Noh at the Tokyo National Noh Theater. In Noh, each posture and motion in a dance is symbolic - the Noh fan can show cherry blossoms gently falling to earth, hide a shy face, be a rope pulling a treasure ship to port, or become a sword brought down swiftly and smoothly. The idea behind the dance forms influence how Philip creates characters in his paintings.

Philip practices Vinyassa Yoga. Yoga is the union of body and space, breath and motion, balance and exertion, mind and body focused on the present, unified in the moment, realizing the beauty expressed in a form. The asana, poses, create lines of energy rooted solidly on earth and rising towards the heavens. For instance, triconasana, The Angle posture, has energy reaching from foot through the leg to side and up through the outstretched arm and leaving through the fingertips.

Love Song - The Polychromatic Music Score 2010 oil on canvas 20" x 16" I am fascinated by how musical notation "captures" the spirit of the music and talented musicians sight read the music and bring it to life. Music has it's resounding base tones and clarion high tones that correspond to the dark colors and bright colors in my palette. This painting creates a polychromatic music score with lines and shapes moving the piece to the couple's kiss on the right side of the painting. It is a love song of the couple and a love song of music and painting coming together.

Bach's Tocatta in F - Kundalini Rising 2008 oil on canvas 48" x 36" Tocatta is an Italian word meaning "touch." It is also a style of classical music associated with organ playing. One of the most famous Tocatta pieces is The Toccata in F for Organ by J. S. Bach. Organist Lionel Rogg compared the Tocatta in F to the building of a cathedral. This idea of cathedral can also refer to the temple of self.

Kundalini refers to the energy that flows through the chakras from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Each chakra corresponds to a body area and a color. In the painting you can see the chakra colors flowing in from the left side as triangles that lead to the pink characters outstretched hand. This character reaches forth with to share the Buddhist wish-granting jewel with the robed monk. The monk also holds a small flame towards star. I've thought about the meaning and, to me, it is more about the self going through the yoga postures to reach a higher self perhaps through prahnayama or moving meditation.

There are many other subplots in this painting: the moon and the star, the steps leading to buildings at odd angles and many doorways to explore. There's an F at the bottom left and jewels floating away from the star.

Philip finds that the practice of these postures influence the balance and perspective of forms in his drawings and paintings. He is captivated by the power of lines of energy flowing - and his paintings exalt in energy fields. While painting is a static art after the painter "completes" the work, Philip loves the active energy provided by dance figures in his works.

Yoga has helped him understand the richness of experience when eyelids are shut and yoga poses are performed based on feel of the body moving in space unified with the prahnic energy of breath. While he has not taken a life drawing class, Philip creates the figures in his work based on his memory of forms.

Philip Noyed , born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and lives and works in Deephaven, Minnesota. www-artzeal.com