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Saturday, September 24, 2011

New York Girl


New York Girl

Oil on Birch right angle panel, 2011, 4.5"x 4.5"x 2.5"

sold

Hi! I haven't posted in a very long time. The pressure was a bit much trying to finish a painting every day, when I wasn't even sure what it was I was interested in painting. So I hid in the studio for a while and developed some paintings for a few shows, one in April at Paint Creek Center for The Arts, and the other show is up right now at Center Galleries on the campus of College For Creative Studies (CCS) near the art museum. It closes on October 8th. Its a 3 person show with myself Clinton Snider and Michael McGillis.
This is a painting I did for the Paint Creek show, and it is the inspiration for a lot of my work at the Center Gallery show. I built a small right angled panel, and wanted to paint an image that depicted one point perspective. So that the vanishing point is actually at the physically closest point to the viewer. The girl (here in a found photo from a thrift store) is also on the leading edge of the painting. What happens visually to me is very exciting. The girl seems to animate in a way, when you move about the room. Because she is at the right angle edge, no matter where you stand, she doesn't distort very much but the background does very much. This distortion is what drives a whole series of paintings I will be featuring on the blog. There is one "sweet spot" where everything looks normal and the moment you move out of it everything changes. What this does for me is it brings the girl and the painting to life, if only for a moment. I like the fact this is a found photo too, giving the girl depicted (showing off her new Easter dress I imagine), another chance at life after being discarded.

3 comments:

Pierre Raby said...

Wow!!! Exciting small piece Andy.
We can already catch up where you're going with this series.
When I saw the figure splitted in the middle and positionned in the edge of the angle I thought, no he didn't... (with a big smile on my face) and then I read your post to confirm my interpretation. So many aesthethical issues are involved in this piece, the amzing thing is that you brilliantly merge them in a way they don't hide the narrative content. Promising.

Unknown said...

Thanks Pierre. The idea with the vanishing point was one I got away from after this painting as you'll see in subsequent posts, but one I got back to in my most recent show (but in a larger format). After this one I immediately started focusing on the two sided aspect of these little paintings.
Your recent work by the way is absolutely stunning! I love the richness of your colors but it is so controlled, contrasted with such quiet compositions. Masterful.
If anyone else reads these comments go check out Pierre's blogs! They're brilliant.

Oil Paintings said...

Wow It describes an antique painting. I have visited this blog and found really interesting. You have done the great job. Nice Painting Andy!