A lone automobile cruising a dark, quiet street. Huge diesel engines sitting dormant in a nighttime rail yard. A restaurant where diners are drawn like moths to the island of light in the surrounding darkness.
In his photorealistic paintings of iconic American places — mostly liminal, mostly nostalgic — artist Alex Devereux creates a mood of isolation, sometimes abandonment, drawing from the everyday and exposing the hidden beauty of locations we so often drive past without a thought.
In each painting, the stage is set for whatever may come next. The images tremble with potential energy, their surface tension waiting, waiting, forever waiting to be broken.
Perhaps this feeling of “in-between” is best expressed in Devereux’s depiction of Fremont Street in 1960s Las Vegas. The Golden Nugget sign is frozen in time, only two of the 12 letters illuminated, the others awaiting their successive turns to glow. In the background, Vegas Vic’s waving arm is stopped in its uppermost position. Only a few vintage automobiles are out this night, the brake lights on one contributing to that sense of anticipation.
People are rarely seen in Devereux’s work, but despite this quality, there’s an echo of the paintings of Edward Hopper. Devereux is more interested in the where, rather than the who. His preference for night scenes allows him to heighten the impact of lighting from both neon and incandescent sources.
“I’m drawn to the depths of the drama of those images,” he explained.
He is also attracted to vintage, retro Americana and said he likes the images to take us back to a simpler time.
As with other photorealistic painters, Devereux is focused on detail. He applies sharp attention to each element of the image. Light from signage and windows reflects off pavement and gravel and is mirrored in puddles.
The viewer wants to stop and examine these details and discover the subtleties in each painting.
Devereux finds such attention to detail essential to his satisfaction with the creation.
“You want to enjoy every part of that painting,” he said.
Devereux was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, and grew up in the suburbs north of Chicago. He said he always knew he had talent and recalled duplicating cartoon characters when he was in the fourth grade. He began to experiment with acrylic paints when in the eighth grade and continued to practice his art.
“By the time I was 17 or 18, I was like, I’ve got to do something with it,” he said.
He was fortunate to have a major inspiration in his youth: his grandfather, Jim Devereux, an accomplished illustrator who apprenticed under Haddon Sundblom, the artist who became famous for his creation of the iconic Santa Claus image for Coca-Cola in 1931.
Further inspiration presented itself when a still life Alex Devereux did for a class was among four selected for display at his school. It was validation. And he went on to study illustration and graphic design at the former American Academy of Art in Chicago.
“I would take the train down to the city pretty much every day,” he recalled. “I walked from the train station to The Academy of Art.”
After receiving his degree, he went to work as an illustrator, painting birds and berries and home-décor images with watercolor, which allowed him to work quickly.
He prefers acrylic paints when creating fine art but remembers what he learned using watercolors.
“I paint in a watercolor style and just build up the tones thicker and thicker,” he explained. “I just stuck with acrylic. It just coats better. The colors and vibrancy with acrylic are way better.”
Today, he still does graphic design with Home Run Consultants. But his art is getting the attention of art lovers. His work is represented by Plus One Gallery in London and Leslie Levy Fine Art Inc. in Scottsdale, Arizona.
An exhibit of his work, “Alex Devereux: The American Traveler,” opened June 5 at the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine as part of the Lightner Local series.
“The feedback was pretty good at the show,” Devereux said. “Hopefully, something comes from that. There was a good turnout.”
The show runs through Aug. 16. The museum is located at 75 King St.
Created to showcase the extraordinary talents of artists who live in the Northeast and Central Florida regions, Lightner Local is presented by the Benjamin and Jean Troemel Arts Foundation. Additional support comes from the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Learn more about Devereux at alexdevereux.com. Learn more about the Lightner Museum at lightnermuseum.org.
