Artist and teacher Dale Worthen Bryner passed away Feb. 6, 1999. I didn't know him, nor was I familiar with his work until, while visiting Phillips Gallery, I came upon dozens of his diminutive watercolors, Prismacolors and gouaches — most no larger than 6 by 6 inches — propped against the gallery's walls awaiting hanging.
I was immediately drawn to an assortment of small, Prismacolor figure drawings reminiscent of works by Heinz Edlemann (creator of the art in the Beatles' film "Yellow Submarine") and Etienne Delessert. Bryner's figures — especially the females — are a confederacy of oddly shaped, bulbous balloonlike forms, twisting and turning, creating arms, legs, feet and head. When these shapes are combined with Bryner's masterful control of light and shadow, the finished pieces are simply marvelous to behold.
In a 1992 artist statement, Bryner said: "Form has, for me, always been more important than idea. Since the beginning of my conscious interest in the visual arts, I have been intrigued with objects and how they are revealed by light and shadow."
All things considered, viewers of Bryner's work will find his rendering of dark and light on all subjects the most visually stimulating part of the exhibit.
In the past few years of his life, Bryner became captivated by astronomy; he studied it alone and in classes, and began producing images of the cosmos. One of his works, "Of Binary System Z Chamaeleontis," was selected to grace a poster explaining the Nobel Prize for Physics 2002.
Several of his astronomy paintings are in the exhibit and are so realistic viewers may mistake the images to be photographs.
Bryner's show at Phillips — which consists of over 175 small drawings and paintings — will have viewers guessing at narrative intent, marveling at design and craftsmanship, and smiling at the magnitude of output.
Phillips Gallery, 444 E. 200 South, is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information on exhibitions call 364-8284.
E-mail: gagon@desnews.com