Raeburn's Ramblings

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Spring Art Fair at Alex Adam Gallery

The Alex Adam Gallery in Harlem is holding its first annual Spring Art Fair featuring some big names from the Art Students League.

The exhibit is divided into five genres: portraits (Eleanor Adam and Robin Smith), landscapes (Dan Gheno), prints (Mary Beth McKenzie), sculpture (Jonathan Shahn and Beñat Iglesias), and abstraction (Fumiko Toda).

The art works reflect the prevailing style of ASL which is firmly grounded in American realism with some expressionist touches. It's a refreshing change from the current offerings of other New York City galleries which seem to emphasize conceptualism and gimmickry over aesthetics and craftmanship.

The show runs through April 26, 2014. Definitely worth a visit.

Press release

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Creativoshoy.com

Here is a very gracious article from Creativoshoy.com (Madrid).

Thursday, February 20, 2014

The Palette Pages

Here's my interview with The Palette Pages (London).

Friday, February 14, 2014

Andy Denzler at Claire Oliver

I've been obsessed with Andy Denzler for a long time and finally had the opportunity to see the Swiss artist's glitch paintings in the flesh at Claire Oliver in Chelsea.

Some words about Denzler's method, from D. Dominick Lombardi on Artslant:

Working in stages, Denzler first marks off an outline of his subject with sketchy brush strokes, which he then overpaints with a rather straightforward depiction of same. The third layer is a thick impasto that directly relates to the under-painting both in placement and color. It is in this final "fat" layer of paint that one can see the artist’s individual color selections, which are quite informative. His flesh tones in particular are numerous and variously warm and cool. His style shares something with pointillism or impressionism insofar as Denzler’s colors are more or less separate, even though there is some inevitable mixing that naturally occurs during the application.

The painted surface of each canvas varies. Some are so thin that the texture of the canvas is visible; others are as thick as icing on cake. In certain areas of the more thickly applied paint the artist makes a smearing blend in a vertical motion. After the uneven, uppermost surface blends are completed, Denzler takes great risk by making deliberate and invasive sweeps across the painted surface from side to side leaving only a few select bands untouched. In the end, the artist is left with an "out-of-focus" Gerhard Richter's Baader Meinhof-esque painting—if you look past the untouched bands. Finally, Denzler goes back in with paint – or works with what remains still on the canvas – to clarify salient features in the figures.

Even though glitch art has its roots in corrupted digital imagery, I was surprised by Denzler's lush, voluptuous textures which are not quite evident in online photos. Denzler's works definitely come from the painterly traditions of abstract expressionism even though his references appear to be photographs or video stills.

There is a palpable feeling of voyeurism and decay in his work, as well as an exhilirating visual tension from the rhythmic bands of blurred and pixelated passages. By obscuring his subjects in this manner Denzler somehow manages to make them seem more real. Indeed, breathtakingly alive. I have much to learn from this artist.

Andy Denzler: Between the Fragments will be on view until tomorrow, February 15, 2014.

Ophelia V
Oil on Canvas
47.2 x 55.1 inches | 120 x 140 cm

The Observer
Oil on Canvas
31.5 x 27.5 inches | 80 x 70 cm

Haunted Garden II
Oil on Canvas
70.9 x 59.1 inches | 180 x 150 cm

Grape Eater
Oil on Canvas
31.5 x 27.5 inches | 80 x 70 cm

Cora II
Oil on Canvas
31.5 x 27.5 inches | 80 x 70 cm

Ghost in Me
Oil on Canvas
31.5 x 27.6 inches | 80 x 70 cm

For more images, click here.

Monday, January 27, 2014

In Art We Trust

I am pleased to announce a new association with the Paris dealer In Art We Trust. Please click here for available works. Merci!

Monday, January 6, 2014

A letter from Australia

An Australian reader wrote me about the head study above:

"It seems to capture the dynamism and movement we associate with the idea of women's liberation in a modern way, without the association with older images which have become cliched."

Even though I wasn't thinking about women's lib while I was painting this, I thought it was a nice compliment. I had to share it!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Modern Realism

As a follow-up to my previous post on figurative expressionists, here are some of my favorite realist painters in the contemporary art market.

Realism today takes many forms: classical realism, photorealism, and even magical realism in the tradition of George Tooker and Jared French. Many of these artists are also influenced by illustration, advertising, and electronic media.

I admire these artists for their devotion to visual truth, unaltered by gimmicks, and also for their ability to impart something extraordinarily personal in their works.

Click on the links and explore their websites. Have a Happy New Year everyone and thank you for checking in on my blog.

Francois Bard