This week in Provincetown showcases what’s become one of the more anticipated events of the summer: new work by Joerg Dressler.

His 2008 show, based on “mental snapshots” Dressler retained from a recent trip to his native Hanau, Germany, was a sell-out, leaving passionate collectors from throughout the nation eager for more.

Dressler, who studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach, Germany, and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, paints in a bold style that can accommodate a wide spectrum of approaches, ranging from abstract compositions to representational landscapes.

His show at the Alden Gallery, located at 423 Commercial Street, Provincetown, Massachusetts, includes more work inspired by pastoral German locations and the Cape Cod terrain that is now his home.

“My paintings are interpretations of the landscapes that surround me,” Dressler says. “Depending on my needs and moods, the color, light, and level of abstraction change.”

There’s a growing feeling that Dressler is one to collect now before it’s too late. His work offers that rare combination of originality, design, color and multi-interpretative masterly flourishes in which the smallest of details – a stroke from brush or knife – transcends its own intent or purpose. But then again, art is best when it requires less deduction and discussion, and Dressler’s work is easily enjoyed just for the sheer visualness of it, whether it’s his more abstract work or the representational and realistic.

Alden Gallery is one of the newer galleries in Provincetown, showcasing many outstanding new talents. Showing with Dressler is Kevin Cyr, a masterly realist. Together the two men compliment and embolden each other’s styles in a way that’s adds to the phrase: art does indeed make the world go round.

Originally Published: August 28, 2009