 Hugh Colmer was raised in London, Great Britain where his earliest art influence came from his art historian grandfather who lived in a house called Hughenden, in High Wycombe where he was born. Bryan came to New York in 1966 and now lives with his wife, Carol, in the Northern Catskills at their Windham Retreat Center which focuses on spirituality and the Arts of the Sacred.
Hugh studied at the London School of Printing under Tom Eckersly and then, putting his own creative urge behind other great talents, he became the youngest artist’s agent in London. During the late 1950 ‘s he represented Nicola Simbari who was segueing from painting Alec Guinness, for one of his quirkier films, The Horses Mouth, to exhibiting his quintessential Italian scenes in art galleries around the world. This propitious beginning led to a long career representing Robert Brownjohn, the designer of the film titles for James Bond ‘s, Goldfinger, and fine art photographers, Jean-Paul Goude, Francesco Scavullo, and Bert Stern,among others.Bryan‘s professional experience includes print and art production for publishers and advertising agencies in London and New York.
In the late 1980s he began to lose interest in working with advertising agencies and as his own materialistic world was collapsing around him he sensed there was something more. He opened his mid-town loft into a metaphysical salon to satisfy his need for more. He saw that the 80s would be known as the GREED decade and Oliver Stone's film, "Wall Street" corroborated it. His last hurray was to inspire some 'Hall of Fame' art directors and writers to create story boards to illustrate how greed was destroying the world.
Having bottomed out to life in the fast lane, he began to have mystical experiences which gave him clues to why it was necessary to change his lifestyle. When the student is ready the masters appear. And they did and still do. His obsession with the search for the truth in myth and religion was deeply rooted in his soul and after several past-life regressions as as a priest who escaped from Alexandria with the Book of Thoth (Tarot), as a Knights Templar who was killed after he had stormed the walls of Jerusalem and who was later burnt at the stake as a heretic, he clearly saw that all these existences were concerned with protecting Truth.
At present, Hugh is Partner/Director of The Crosscircle Group which holds seminars on art and myth based on his book, The Galactic Cross:The Royal Road to Galactic Consciousness, which incorporates symbolism, astrology, numerology, and comparative religion in the art of the major arcana of the Tarot. When asked what it is he loves about art and the Tarot, Bryan replies, "It reflects the cosmos and our place in it and allows me to express myself in a wide range of mixed media. Borrowed imagery from archaic icons from ancient manuscripts, classical, religious and & mythical art has become the focus of his compositions. In discussing his work, Bryan says; "all my art is in some way about other art, whether impressionistic, realistic or abstract. Hugh’s interest in Platonic philosophy and Classical themes provide him with the opportunity to explore mythological subjects as well as traditional religious themes."
Hugh Colmer’s impressionistic abstractions are deeply personal statements that seek to provide a transcendental experience; he describes his work as a simple expression of complex thought. He was drawn to remove these divine icons from their conventional context and place them in ever expanding realms of abstraction, bringing humanity and the cosmos into a closer relationship. |
