‘Key West Easy,’ an exhibit of recent work by Peter Lewis Vey, is on view through March 3 at the Gallery on Greene, 606 Greene St. For Vey, “Key West Style” represents a body of work of the varying cultural influences of the island chain. “Beauty is exciting,” Vey said.
For a quarter-century, he has painted the easy elegance of the Florida Keys, from secret back-country nooks to the proud Victorian architecture and other styles of historic buildings in Key West.
“Key West Easy” has a sense of great comfort. It doesn’t take itself too seriously — like Vey, who arrived on the Key West art scene in 1996 and quickly established himself as an artist. Works such as “Happy Friday” and “The Big Picture” are nuanced studies of Old Town jewels. In his Ballast Key series, Vey’s palette knife expertly captures the marriage of water and shoreline.
The world feels warmer when Vey paints it. Pastel shutters on white wooden houses soften the dazzling afternoon glare of an island. Coconut palms draw the eye upward to the complex patterns and colors at their heart. And wind-swollen sails float above the ever-changing waters under squint-worthy skies.
“There’s plenty of art that throws you into an introspective tailspin,” Vey has said. “I like to celebrate life. That’s important to me.”
Vey isn’t just a painter; he’s a traveler, an explorer, a tour guide and a host, taking viewers with him, offering the best views of every place he’s seen. And his paintings don’t merely show us where the artist has been; they share secrets of the places he wants us to know: a spectacular shoreline, a boat in the harbor or a historic home on a hidden lane in Key West.
His work has been chosen for the cover of many magazines, including an upcoming BoatUS, the Netflix series “Bloodline” and now a movie, “Heart of a Lion,” as well as in the now-closed Newseum in Washington, D.C.
After studying art and art history at Duke University, Vey spent several years during the 1980s working in an abstract expressionist approach, a style he still works in to loosen up. The spontaneity that makes his realist work so fresh comes from this font.
Vey uses only one tool, an artist’s palette knife, but coaxes it to yield both the finest of lines and flat expanses of pure hue. He begins by making a loose sketch, to nail down the composition, and then builds up a picture area by area, painting with oil on linen, which requires him to work quickly.
Whether landscape or cityscape catches Vey’s eye, he brings a delicate balance of understatement, and easy elegance to the work.
For more information call 305-304-2323 or visit peterveyfineart.com or galleryongreene.com.
