As you enter the painting studio of Charles Gniech, you are met with radiant light. One wall of the studio is glass yet the light source seems to be coming from the paintings. The relatively dark canvases present luminous figures in fields of dark olive green and black. Canvases are stacked – leaning against the walls – while others hang as though to create a distraction for the painter. They are works that have only recently been completed. Gniech likes to "live with them for a while" before the works are made public.
Attempting to connect to the emotions of everyday people, Gniech paints imagery based on ideas, which are current in today’s society. This body of work, "Emerging from Darkness", seems to be defined by struggle – sometimes subtle and sometime more blatant. The depictions are created with minimal adornments. He uses stark backgrounds of olive green and black to emphasize the solitude of the symbolic figure-of-humanity. Hope can be seen in these paintings. It seems to be defined by the light source that Gniech creates. Often intense, the light is defined as the illumination of truth and knowledge.
The Perception Shifts, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2008
The Teacher Learns, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2004
The Man Evolves, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2003
The Dreamer Explores, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2003
The Actor Fades, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2003
From Darkness, 36" x 15", acrylic on canvas, 2003 [detail at right]
The following paintings have been acquired for private collections
The Writer Dreams, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2003
In the collection of Sandy Silvers and Vivian Ross, Chicago and Northbrook, Illinois
The Soul Evolves, 30" x 72", acrylic on canvas, 2003-4
In the collection of Petter Gettings, Chicago
The Artist Wonders, 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2003
In the collection of the Artist