James
Van Patten
"Mist
Morning" - 2004
acrylic on linen
36 x 54 inches
91.44 x 137.16 cm
"Though taken from nature, the imagery in my paintings might, at first glance, be unnoticed in the natural world. At best, a throwaway memory. Yet it is the mystery of reflection, shadow and light, and unexpected color that makes me want to paint these throwaway scenes. When I have found the image that I will paint, I use the intermediate eye of the camera to see nuances that I have missed. The anomalies of the camera lens also provide additional information that exist only in the photograph of the image. By incorporating these qualities such as a softening and color-rimming of the edges, my paintings provide surprises to me and, I hope, to the viewer. From the beginning of the painting process I know what the image is, but l am never sure what the picture will be when brought to paint." JAMES VAN PATTEN, 1999
Daniel
Lee
"Ruth & Alonzo" - 2001
digital C- prints mounted on
acid-free Sintra board with UV lamination
35 x 50 inches (88.9 x 127 cm)
edition 1/6m
Origin is a recent series of manipulated photo images which describes human evolution based on my imagination. I propose that there were ten stages in human evolution, from the fish form (as Coelacanth) eventually transformed to reptiles, apes and humans. The exhibition will be installed in a sequence of eleven pieces; 37.5 x 50 inches color photographs*. Daniel Lee was born in Chungking, China and grew up in Taiwan. He is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art, where he studied photography and film. He worked as an Art Director until 1976, at which point he changed to photography as a career. * They are digital outputs on color C-print by Duggal Color Project. Limited edition in 10. "My motivation derives from the up-coming millennium. The new millennium (year of 00) suggests to me the grand beginning of everything. My concept started a few months after the New York Times Magazine gave me the opportunity to create a self-portrait for a special technology issue in 1997. I made a sequence of four portraits which show our past as apes and our future in perspective. To take it further, I assert that all of the mammals, the reptiles and the fishes were related to us to begin with." DANIEL LEE, 1999
Peter Colen
"Black
& White" 1996
acrylic and mixed media
70 x 52 inches
132 x 177.8 cm
"The work is minimalist abstraction, with a touch of expressionism. The paintings do not contain much color. In these works, I am more interested in light, the surface, and what is beneath the surface. There is desolation in my paintings, but I attempt to find or build something of beauty or meaning that is worthwhile enough to justify the painting's existence. I started with photography in 1986. After 3 years of photographing around New York I found that I had developed particular interests. The one that led me to painting, was a fascination with texture. The textures that I was attracted to were found in ruined industrial sites. I spent a summer photographing the rusting melted piers, and the surrounding area next to the Boat Basin (Upper West Side). I perused New York for industrial ruins. I climbed quite a few barbed wire fences. The first paintings were made in 1989. I had stained canvases with rabbit skin glue, and photographic chemicals. Soon after, I began mixing my own paints. I have done so ever since. Painting is a direct medium. No longer did I have to go out to find an image. I wanted to make a big painting, I bought a large canvas. Not another piece of equipment. I thought this was a great thing. In my paintings, I generally keep it abstract. I feel compelled to wipe out most figurative elements. At the same time I create objects that are hyper-real. If I want paint on a wail, I build a wall. Then I put paint on the wall. I want the painting to work on both levels. As an abstract image, and in the world as a real object. My paintings are generally not very revealing on specific things about me. These paintings are more about what I see. What I find visually worthwhile. Hopefully, I am revealing something to somebody. I think art is a form of communication. Nothing more, nothing less." PETER COLEN, 1999 ,
MaryEllen
Sinclair
"Sonny
Boy" 1999
hand stitched silk, cotton, felt,
ribbons, net
10h x 9l x 3d inches
25.4h x 22.8l x 7.6d cm
Seemingly mundane and innocent, MaryEllen Sinclair's works urge the public to rationalize formal simplicity and intuitive complexities of perception. The work explores a diversity of technical skills with roots in traditions such as embroidery and weaving. However, what is present is the result of her own personal obsessions created through manipulation and empirical methods of construction. These new forms of fiber sculpture are presented in a realm where personal artifacts portray the ideals as well as evils of everyday human existence. The subject and its relationship to reality is just as important as the outward manipulation of the image, synthesizing technique with emotional content. Sinclair's wit and humor are penetratingly dramatic through ironic narratives attempting to raise social consciousness through common but not randomly selected images: In "Little African," an antiquated cigar box's label depicts a black baby about to be devoured by an alligator in cartoon-like humor, yet the box is filled with religious cards symbolizing righteous beliefs. Femininity is exposed in clichés as in the "Hold Bob" brand of hair pins. The superficiality of beauty, unveiled in "Venida Hair Net" tucked inside a "Vanity Cabinet," filled with more supplies for this preoccupation. In "The Beauty of Freedom" a Marilyn Monroe lighter sets an American flag aflame, asking the viewer to make sense of having the freedom to burn a symbol of freedom. Marilyn's image smiles back "For many years I have been fascinated with thread, experimenting with it's nature. The thread defines the rules. It does what it will, and will not, do. And I become obsessed learning more and more of how to push and pull, which is how my processes progress. I define fabric as woven threads; A thread simply a three dimensional spun line of any fiber; silk, hemp, cotton, even dust or dryer lint. However, my work is not about fabric, even though it is made of it. My emotions and are just as interwoven into the pieces as the thread. The objects are personal components of my life experiences, they become visual evidence of human nature and life's ironies." MARYELLEN SINCLAIR, 1999
"The paintings on wood in this show look like small blackboards with miniature "chalk" drawings in the corners. In the centers of each panel is a tightly realistic oil painting of some object of everyday life. The fact that the picture in the center is surrounded by strange drawings, which seemingly don't have much to do with the image, is intended to give it another dimension. I am trying to create an elegance of symmetry and simplicity, but speak to complexity and depth at the same time. The paintings might subconsciously suggest to the viewer a variety of ideas, such as "learning" and "study". Maybe there is a suggestion of appreciation, and a sense of slowing down to see life close up, in the way it is painted. Most of all it is intended to be open-ended enough for each viewer to bring their own interpretations to the paintings. Everyone is different and has a different reaction to each combination of elements. What the viewer brings to the painting is what completes the work." CARA WOOD, 1999
"For over twenty years I have felt compelled to make small multi-media pieces, often beginning with a snapshot. Not surprisingly, my work develops and changes through life experiences that deeply affect me. Three years ago I saw Piero della Francesca's fifteenth century fresco, Resurrection, in Sansepolcro. Jesus seemed human, athletic and powerful, stepping out of the tomb toward us. The luminous space which contained him was not deep as one expected in the Renaissance, but instead was shallow, as if created by Cezanne. The experience was one I will never forget. I poured through a catalog of Piero's work and found sections that appealed to my sensibility. I began to make small mixed media pieces using these sections as the beginning of the work. The first three are abstract. Gradually heads began to appear. Some look at us, demanding to be present in our time." SUSAN HENDRIX, 1999
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