BARRY MASTELLER 
 
 
RECENT WORK 
2016 - 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
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Masteller is clearly a master observer of atmosphere, light and dark, natural form, and their interplay. The results are solemnly harmonious pictures. No apologies for haunting beauty; it remains credible, despite the attacks on it by different modernists, among them Duchamp and Newman. Beauty conveys the esthetic conviction that is the core of art at its most intimate. 
 
Donald Kuspit.  
 
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While distinctly contemporary, Masteller's canvases betray the influence of those early pioneers who recognized California's singular fusion of land and light as fruitful ground for a more meditative approach.  
 
For Barry Masteller as well as for his historical predecessors, the landscape serves as a conduit to unknown worlds and hidden dimensions. 
 
Masteller's works remind that paintings not only represent but also exist as physical landscapes. They reflect a keen understanding of paintings as three-dimensional terrains, formed by sedimented layers of pigment, binder and varnish, and built up, like geological formations, over the course of time. 
 
Marcelle Polednik. Director / Curator Milwaukee Museum of Art. 
 
 
 
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Masteller is a conceptual painter: he unites fragments of the urban environment--carefully chosen from a repertoire of photographs--to create a kind of picture puzzle, that is, a representation that conveys the unreal look of every convincing representation even as it precisely realizes reality. The empirical is subsumed in the enigmatic, making for a sense of uncanny truthfulness, however factually bizarre the picture finally seems. 
 
 
Donald Kuspit. American Art Critic and Poet. 
 
 
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Journey Home.  66 x 54 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lavender.  54 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
More Than Whats Left.  66 x 54 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Convergence.  54 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On a Clear Day.   48 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Night Shift.  66 x 54 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Story Board.   50 x 40 in. acrylic on canvas. 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tucked Away.   50 x 40 in. acrylic on canvas. 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What is Left is What Remains.  30 x 26.5 in.  oil and acrylic on birch panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Requiem.  54 x 48 in.  acrylic on canvas 2018 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Red Line.   54 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2018 / 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Between a Mesa and a Sand Dune.  66 x 66 in. acrylic on canvas 2018 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alluvium.  66 x 54 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Together.  66 x 54 in. acrylic on canvas. 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Green Line.  66 x 54 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elements.  54 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas 2018 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Close To Home.  30 x 26.5 in. oil and acrylic on birch panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stone Water Air.  30 x 26.5 in.  oil and acrylic on birch panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Arroyo.    60 x 54" mixed media and acrylic on canvas. 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pleiades.  48 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chance and Circumstance.  66 x 66 in. acrylic on canvas 2018 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Time Lines.   48 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reflections.   54 x 48 in. acrylic on canvas. 2021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Humming Bird.  26 x 24 x 2 in. acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fog Memory.  26 x 24 x 2 in. acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Imaginary Day.  26 x 24 x 2 in. acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Syncopation.  24 x 22 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Landscape With Quinary.  24 x 22 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sweet Spot.   48.5 x 24.5 in. acrylic polymer and graphite on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Countdown.   27 x 19 in. acrylic polymer and graphite on paper. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Passion Play.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Beyond a Shadow.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Southern Light.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Present of the Past.   48.5 x 24.5 in. acrylic polymer and graphite on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Resonance.   38 x 24 in. mixed media on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Otherside Of Night.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From Time to Time.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Synergy.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Flying.   27 x 19 in. acrylic polymer and graphite on paper on. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Glimmer.   48.5 x 24.5 in. acrylic polymer and graphite on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Borderlands.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Not By A Thread.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Playground.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Foundation.  26 x 24 x 2 in.  acrylic on panel. 2019 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                
                    
                        
 
 
8.5 x 11 in. 40 page perfect bound catalog with 35 color images and text. 
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NEW MEXICO COLLAGE PAINTINGS 
Click on image to enlarge 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhyme and Reason 1.  24 x 16 in.  oil, acrylic, mixed media 
 and cut 1991 painting collage on panel 1991 / 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhyme and Reason 2.  24 x 16 in.  oil, acrylic, mixed media 
 and cut 1991 painting collage on panel 1991 / 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhyme and Reason 3.  24 x 16 in.  oil, acrylic, mixed media 
 and cut 1991 painting collage on panel 1991 / 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Okey-Dokey 1.  24 x 16 in. acrylic and mixed media on panel. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Okey-Dokey 2.  24 x 16 in. acrylic and mixed media on panel. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Okey-Dokey 3.  24 x 16 in. acrylic and mixed media on panel. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A selection of current 6 x 6 inch. (15.24 x 15.24 cm) mixed media paintings on canvas.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Juniper.  30 x 30 in. acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Translation 12.  6 x 6 in. acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Translation 50.  6 x 6 in. acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Translation 53.  6 x 6 in. acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Translation 54.  6 x 6 in. acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                
                    
                        
                                         High Ground Elegies                 A compilation of recent paintings by Barry Masteller with accompanying text, biography and 2022 interview.                                     
 
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All text and images contained on this site copyright:  Barry Masteller 2025 
 
 
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