Art in the Studio: abstract art

Showing posts with label abstract art. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Gregory Wright - FORCES

Greg Wright, a friend and skilled painter, is currently having a solo show of 18 works in his series, "Forces", at Galatea Fine Art in Boston's South End, running until May 31st.

Detail of Synaptic III

Shifting, Expanding, Creeping, Growing, Intertwining

The works are all painted in a grisaille palette of mostly greys, whites and blacks, but despite the overall somber tonality, the marks and forms in the works appear to be actively moving in a lively exploration of space. Those forms represent "the dissemination and movement of information and the unspoken word" but are also unseen forces present throughout life within our bodies and in our souls. Portraying all of this is a weighty challenge, but Greg paints twisting and intertwining organic forms in many shapes and configurations that he imagines in various scenarios. This is a powerful collection of works that draw the viewer in to visual exploration of the dark recesses within the sinewy compositions.

Viewing the Exhibition Moving Around the Gallery (be sure to click on the images to enlarge them)

(Note: I'm sorry for the color differences here and there caused by those yellowish photos being taken by my iPhone. Others were taken with a more-pixelated camera.)

At right, Synaptic I, II and III, 2011- each 48" x 20,"
At left, The Truth Comes Out, 2012, 36" x 30"
All painted with encaustic, oil, pigment and shellac on birth panels

As we enter the gallery space proper, the three tall Synaptic paintings are on the right and ahead is the slightly more colorful The Truth Comes Out. One of the forces that Greg refers to is synaptic reaction as electrical impulses move through our bodies or across the internet. He is interested in the forces that set off this chain reaction and perpetuate change.

Synaptic I, II and III, 2011

Synaptic III

The side wall of the gallery showing left to right - The Quest, diptych,
On Many Different Levels I and II (boxes) and The Truth Comes Out

Dimensional Illusion

Seeing these works on the screen,may give the impression that they are actually sculptural, and although they do have some areas where encaustic paint is built up, these are two-dimensional paintings. Hieronymus Bosch is an influence, but where Bosch depicted humanity to comment on social and religious life, Wright's forms are abstractly organic and vaguely familiar but not identifiable. He refers to them as "Baroque-like compositions of beautiful complication."

The Truth Comes Out, 2012, 36" x 30"
encaustic, oil, pigment and shellac on birth panel

I think The Truth Comes Out is my favorite piece in the show. It seems to portray an undersea world of seaweed, billowing bubbles, limitless underwater depths and some kind of strange egg shapes. The mostly grey palette has a few cool greens added that enhance the illusion of or allusion to the sea world. Or could this be an imaginary glimpse into the inner workings of the body, not pink and red as we know it, but cooly grey and white with touches of green?

Closeup of The Truth Comes Out

On Many Different Levels I and II, 2011, each 6" x 6" x 6"
encaustic, oil, pigment and shellac on wood

These boxes are painted on five sides with a continuously expanding portrayal of forms moving through space and interacting with each other.

The Quest, diptych, 2010, each panel 30" x 24"

Left panel of The Quest

The forms in this diptych almost take on human shapes tumbling through space, but the forms retain their anonymity as they "morph, combine, and reimerge into something other than their original state."

Left, Reaching Out, 2010, 36" x 30"
Right, Lucid Moment I and II, 2011, each panel 40" x 36"
All three painted with encaustic, oil, pigment and shellac on birch panels

Lucid Moment I and II

Lucid Moment I from a closer perspective

In the Lucid Moment paintings the scale and shape of the forms change to become larger, more frontally presented and less rounded. Connections between the forms are emphasized by chains of thin links making them into a continuous unit. These works, Wright says, are "about finding clarity or reaching a climax."

Reaching Out, 2010, 36" x 30", encaustic, oil, pigment, and shellac on birth panel

Reaching Out, detail

This spiderlike or crablike form appears to have burst out of its surroundings as if it is moving forward toward the viewer. The beautifully-textured background seems rock hard while the form itself looks soft but powerfully graceful. Does this depict what Greg refers to as "an awakening in the soul?"

Moving around the gallery, we come back to a short movable wall that faces a window into the hallway on one side and the gallery on the other.

On the gallery side of the wall, is a diptych called Convergent, painted on
two 18" x 18" panels

While on the window side of the wall, a quadtych of four 10" x 10" panels in
The Story Continues promises more to come.

The small panels of The Story Continues contain dramatic contrasts within the individual works, and the central breaking apart of the image reinforces the expansiveness portrayed in Reaching Out. Hidden forces are present in every aspect of our lives and Greg Wright has visualized them for us in a dynamic and fascinating show. I hope people near Boston will be able to see it in person.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Ten Things I've Learned From Art

I've probably learned more than ten, but that's just to pique your interest. Everybody likes a list, don't they? You can find my list later in this post. (By the way, you can click on these images to enlarge them.)

A photo from my show at R&F Paints - in the hallway outside the gallery is Ambit and on the right are four pieces from the Text Messages series

The Solo Show

So where have I been for a couple of months? I've been right here working in the studio, working at my part-time jobs, getting most of my brain sucked away by Facebook and following politics. Those last two items are pretty much interchangeable.

The big event of my summer, after the Encaustic Conference of course, was my show at R&F Paints in Kingston, New York. That show began on August 6th and is up until September 22nd. There is still time to see it if you are in the Hudson Valley area. Here's the link.

What a fantastic pleasure it's been to have a show at R&F! First of all, R&F (major manufacturer of encaustic paint) is where I was introduced to encaustic painting some years back. At that time I could never have envisioned being invited to be a Visiting Artist at R&F and have a solo show of my work, so it's a thrill to have achieved this honor and milestone in my career.

Laura Moriarty's shot of three gallery walls plus a peek into the hallway.

Two small blue pieces plus Blues For Etta, 48"H x 60" W - one of my favorite pieces

(You can see more installation shots of the show on my website, nancynatale.net, link here, as well as a wonderful review written by Lynn Woods of The Kingston Times.)
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Secondly, the people of R&F are just great - all very friendly, helpful, aesthetically minded and pretty laid back - a winning combination! Laura Moriarty, Gallery Director, was a pleasure to work with and installed the show with ease. She also mentored me in my three-day Bricolage With Wax workshop, giving advice and assistance where needed (and there were times I definitely needed it).

The Visiting Artist Workshop

Students working in R&F's airy studio facility

More students working

The central table full of bricolage "stuff" for student use plus reference books

Tools for students' use plus student work on the shelves in the background

Class pour of encaustic with embedded materials

The workshop was attended by nine hard-working and enthusiastic students. The mission was to make works of fine art using found objects with encaustic where the objects were not the focus of the works but were used to add another layer of meaning to the works. The objects had to lose their individual identities and become transformed into parts of the whole. This can be a tricky task, especially when you are working with plastic alligators and other easily identifiable things. I'm going to post some photos of student's work on my Art of Bricolage blog later in the week.

What About That List?
Yes, it was a come-on, but I'll give the list a shot, as follows:

Ten Things I've Learned From Art
1) Be persistent
2) Tackle the impossible by starting with the possible - or vice versa.
3) Make lists.
4) Tear things out of magazines and newspapers at will. One of these days you'll look at them.
5) Anything can be an inspiration
6) You will not understand anything you are doing until you have been working at least 20 years.
7) Don't be afraid to be simple and direct.
8) Keep a pencil and paper beside your bed (not a pen because it won't write upside down).
9) Marry someone who loves art (and you).
10) No matter what, it's worth it.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Questionnaire - Lisa Pressman

The Questionnaire is meant to be a lighter version of a bio, a little more revealing in some respects and personal without all the facts bogging it down. I supply the questions and the respondents supply the answers. Either one or both of us supply the images.

L i s a P r e s s m a n

What is your favorite color?

Depends but usually a lime green

"Underneath," encaustic, 14"x11"

What is your favorite word?

Yes

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Art, laughter and kindness

Lisa after her talk at the 2010 encaustic conference

What turns you off?

Meanness

What profession other than artist would you most like to be?

An actor

What is your favorite book or movie?

Godfather 1 and 2, High Fidelity

Who is your favorite musician, musical group or style of music?

Folk music (old and new)

What do you most value in your friends?

Acceptance, honesty and humor

Name three artists whose work has influenced your own or whose work you most relate to.

Eva Hesse, Matisse, Jackson Pollock