I had a great opportunity a couple of weeks ago to meet with Piero Spadaro, the director of the Hang Art Gallery, and his staff in San Francisco. I have been following the gallery on line for the last ten years or so; when I was back east it was a great connection for me to the Bay Area as they only represent local Bay Area artists. I have my favorite artists and love to see how their work evolves over time. Check out Olivia Brown, Marianne Bland, Rachel Sager, Addie Shevlin, Katherine Valentine and Ann West. I really admire all their work.
At any rate, of the paintings I brought for them to review, the team found my small florals the most interesting and in particular the patterns within each piece. They made several suggestions of contemporary artists that I should be aware of: Robert Minervini, Alison Schulnic, Austin Lee, Michael Williams and David Choong Lee, as well as suggesting some study of past periods in art history such as “Pattern and Design,” also known as “Pattern and Decoration.” Ironically enough, according to the NY Times, Pattern and Design is probably the last labeled art movement in art history and took place in the 1970’s and 1980’s. I am sure that the glimpse of the patterns they saw in my work came from the thread of the movement that was woven through my frame of reference. So I have heeded their advice and opened my mind and heart to their suggestions to see what will come from studying these contemporary artists as well as introducing more patterns into my work. I look forward to your feed back and comments!
2 Comments
I love the way you’ve created a sense of shimmering light in the upper parts of the flower, Cynthia – lovely, serene colors, too!
There was an artist who was represented in the La Meridian Hotel in Barcelona, Spain who photographed roses underwater. Each piece was about 10′ x 12’so very large, mural size really. They had them in the foyer by the elevator on each floor. We always walked up the five flights of stairs and it was a treat to see each one on the landing, all different colors; they had a murky mono-tonality with the crisp details of the photograph bubbles that clung to the flowers. I’ll see if I can find them. That is kind of what I was going for with this piece. The edges are much softer with the aerosol spray. I’m so glad you like it.