My work -- in oil, pastel, charcoal, and pencil -- variously depicts the figure, landscape and still life, but what predominates are paintings of people.
In painting individuals, my object is to capture the distinguishing spirit or personality, not necessarily the resemblance. For both individuals and groups, I am also interested in their participation in some everyday activity that is worthy of a "second look." As more people are added, my focus often shifts from faces to the signs that can stand for abbreviated individuals and gestures of interaction. At that more general level, my emphasis is also on the entire scene, finding geometrical shapes or other ambiguity in the forms represented. To this extent, I am trying to skirt the distinction between representational and abstract art.
I subscribe to Mark Rothko’s view that the subject of a painting is the painting. A beautiful face or scene is not necessarily the best candidate for a painting. When considering a single face, the challenge becomes whether you can tell a book by its cover. As a reviewer said of one of my portraits: “You not only know what the guy looks like, but you feel you know what he is like." Similarly, I try to depict the way a figure reflects the human personality. Each particular rendition of the human spirit shows itself in a variety of ways – some intentional, some not. As other figures are included, I focus on other expressions of the human personality such as stance or gesture. The context for interaction may play a role in defining the nature of the people involved or may itself become iconic. Of course, these paintings necessarily represent my interpretation of what I am seeing.
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TRAINING:
Roger Beers studied painting and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute (1980-1984); Connecticut College (Summer 2006); the Lyme Art Academy (Fall 2006); and through numerous courses at the Lyme Art Association (2007-2011).
RECOGNITION:
He was an Elected Artist at the Mystic Museum of Art and the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, and an Associate Artist at the Lyme Art Association. In April 2018, the Mystic Museum convened an exhibition by Roger and two other artists of works depicting “The Contemporary Scene.” In February and March 2020, a large selection of Roger's work was included in another 3-artist show entitled "In Your Face" at the Hygienic Gallery in New London, Connecticut. Overall, his works were accepted in juried group exhibitions throughout New England, and received numerous awards.
BACKGROUND
Until 2007, Roger’s time for artwork and schooling was limited by an extensive public interest law practice in California. He represented the environmental interests of towns, environmental groups, and others in litigation after graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1968. He authored books and articles on environmental law and has received a number of awards for his work, including in 2004 the Sierra Club’s William O. Douglas Award, annually recognizing a lawyer who has made outstanding use of the legal process to achieve environmental goals. He also received the Environmental Stewardship Award in 2000 from the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Mainstay Award in 1998 from TURN, a California non-profit consumer group; the Defender of the Coast Award in 1983 from the American Oceans Campaign for his work in opposing offshore oil drilling; and two awards in 2000 and 2003 from the Natural Resources Defense Council for his success in representing them in environmental litigation.
