Lake Forest Artist Hopes Work Touches Viewers' Hearts

Lake Forest painter René Romero Schuler is making the art scene – both downtown and uptown these days.

Her paintings recently have been featured at Chicago art galleries and events including the Mush Room Gallery at the Flat Iron Building in Bucktown and The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s show – juried by James Rondeau, curator of Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. She is represented in Chicago, Miami, Palm Beach, Michigan, and Hong Kong.

Seven of René’s paintings will be part of new show, “Art is …. Figurative,” which opens Friday, July 8. The opening reception runs from 5 to 8 p.m.

Showcasing the human form, the exhibit will include traditional model drawings, portraiture, abstract figures in paint, and torso studies in glass.

“Paint is a medium that allows me the flexibility and freedom to express my feelings,” Romero Schuler said. “It is fast, malleable, colorful, dark, sleek, rough – anything I want it to be. My hope is that anyone could find some element of their own stories or of some secret truth within my paintings.”

A professional Chicago area artist since 1987, Romero Schuler’s work has been compared to that of Jean Dubufet and Willem DeKooning, though she also is influenced by modern expressionists, such as Susan Rothenberg, Michel Nedjar, and Maryann Kolb.

Working exclusively in oil, her textures express the depths of human emotion in a style that welcomes the viewer far into each piece. Romero Schuler has created an explosive new body of work, appropriately called “Transcendessense,” which explores the role of the modern woman.

“I portray the female figure as I see it beneath all the layers, beyond the physical characteristics we so easily take for granted, in an effort to convey the translucency of the female spirit,” Romero Schuler said. “This current series intends to show strength of spirit and will – the beautiful power within all women to rise above and be luminescent in the face of any adversity.”

The Deer Path Art Gallery show runs through Aug. 12.

Some of René’s art is on display at Starbucks on Bank Lane in East Lake Forest. For more information on her work, or to contact the artist, visit www.renéschuler.com.