Tag Archives: Painting

LAA: New Year New Artists Exhibit!

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I was granted membership to The Loft Artists Association (LAA) in early spring of 2011, and I value their purpose to provide artists with a supportive environment as they reach out to the community through artistic expressions. Along with four great artists, I am participating in LAA’s first exhibit for the year, titled: “New Year, New Artists”, and I’m participating with my first collection of paintings in 2012: “The Balcony Collection”, Following, is the official press release announcing the exhibit.

A principios de la primavera del 2011, fui aceptado como miembro en Loft Artists Association, una entidad que se dedica a la promoción de artistas locales en el area de Stamford,CT. Me siento muy complacido de estar participando en la primera exhibición del año, “New Year, New Artists” con mi primera coleccion de pinturas, “Balcones”. A continuación, les comparto el anuncio de prensa oficial.

Stamford, CT – November 28, 2011 – The Loft Artists are welcoming in the New Year with an exciting show featuring the work of 5 accomplished artists that were juried into the LAA this past year, joining the 45 artists that are currently members. These artists were selected from a large group of applicants in a competitive jurying process that is conducted every other year. They work in various media and have many awards and exhibitions amongst them. They are: Ellen Gordon (painter and printmaker), Philippa Lodato-Suppa (sculptor), Karen V. Neems (photographer, painter and mixed media artist), Jon Puzzuoli (ceramic artist), and Hernan Restrepo (graphic designer and painter).

A short statement from each artist describes their focus:
Ellen Gordon: The work shown in this exhibition is based on my passion to express form with line and shape.  The expressive nature of the line, coupled with the shapes the form creates, both captivates and inspires me. Since the beginning of time artists have wrestled with expressing the third dimension in a two dimensional space and my objective is to do so with a fresh approach. 

Philippa Lodato-Suppa: I am a naturalist at heart, drawn to the earthy smell and silky texture of clay. Through my sculpture I strive to explore the human condition and speak to its undeniable strength, beauty, joy and sorrow.

Karen V. Neems: Whether looking through the viewfinder of the camera, creating collages digitally or manipulating images, I am drawn to the aspects that contain and formalize a space. The framework for my compositions is layered, merged and repeated. In the photocollages, light and shadow draw the viewer in while another image floats on the surface; the elements have a certain familiarity, but the space remains a mystery, creating a visual puzzle. 

Jon Puzzuoli: I try to blur the border between what would be thought of as art and what would be thought of as just another piece of utilitarian ware.  Using traditional forms as a springboard, I strive to reinvent my pieces with sculptural elements and glaze combinations that are uniquely rich and reflect the fluidity and beauty of molten glass.

Hernan Restrepo: I’m determined to maintain an imaginative vision along with a flexible and ethical attitude. Time continues teaching me how to be attentive to the essential aspects of the creative process, such as clear communication and dedication to detail. My goal is to never stop learning.

The Loft Artists Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to building connections within Fairfield County’s visual arts community and exposing the general public to artists and their work. Their grassroots events attract thousands of visitors throughout the tri-state area and have been recognized by funding agencies, including the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, corporate and private sponsors, the City of Stamford and by visitors who return year after year.

New Year, New Artists will have an opening reception Friday, January 13, 2012, from 6-9 pm, accompanied by live jazz at 845 Canal Street in Stamford, CT. Regular Gallery hours are Friday thru Sunday from 12 – 5 PM. Admission and parking are free. Handicapped access available.

For directions and more information visit: www.loftartists.com
or call:
203-323-4153.

Sponsored in part by:

Harbor Point
Kim Harris
The Louis J. Kuriansky Fund
Alex & Ricki Miller

and

Wagner Instruments.

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Realistic Painter Marta Penter

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It’s not usual to see a realistic painter who approaches the human form with a certain level of mysticism, or poetic attitude to say the least. Most of the contemporary realistic painters I can recall, have given me the impression that they simply use the human form as an object to study to the fullest or simply a challenge that leaves room for no speculation, and as a result, giving me the impression that all they pursue is nothing more than ways to feed their alter egoes. Fortunately, today I’ve found the work of a realistic painter, Marta Penter, and artist and psychologist from Brazil who has showed me my own definition of what realism should aim for, which is nothing more than exalting what’s above the surface and enticing our imagination to a higher level of consciousness. Realism should be more than perfect symmetry and anatomical accuracy.

Thus said, I personally enjoy her approach to the human form, I like how she’s not afraid to approach distortion, her paintings make me feel as if I’m observing her subjects through a viewfinder, looking for the best angle before pushing the shutter button. Is finally a relieve to see the human form being placed within an environment other than a bedroom.
On another note, I found it interesting how her paintings reminded me of a great film I saw recently called “Adrift” Somehow I can’t help associating the cinematography of that film with the paintings of Marta Penter, it’s like they both share the same language, the visual language of Brazil I suppose.

Usualmente, las pinturas realistas no me dejan muy satisfecho que digamos; la mayoría de las veces que veo una pintura realista quedo mas aburrido que cualquier otra cosa debido a que me da la impresión de que usan los elementos de una manera superficial sin darme la oportunidad de especular y darle libertad a mi imaginación. Afortunadamente, el trabajo de Marta Penter, quien aparte de ser pintora tambien es psicologa, me ha ayudado a encontrar un punto de referencia sobre lo que para mi debe sobresalir en una obra realista.
Particularmente, me gusta como ella se acerca a la figura humana, para exaltarla desde ángulos donde hay campo para la distorcion, es como si de alguna manera ella nos diera una cámara y nos indicara como encontrar el angulo para tomar la mejor foto. Finalmente, al encontrarme con el trabajo de esta interesante pintora,no puedo evitar asociar una película que vi recientemente llamada Adrift (titulo en EEUU) y que de alguna manera comparte un mismo idioma visual, y quizas ese idioma visual no es otro mas que el hermoso país de Brasil.

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Rolf Nesch: Fine Art Printmaker

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Rolf Hesch : German Fine Art Printmaker
Rolf Hesch : German Fine Art Printmaker
Rolf Hesch : German Fine Art Printmaker
Rolf Hesch : German Fine Art Printmaker
Rolf Hesch : German Fine Art Printmaker

Rolf Nesch was more than an innovative fine art printmaker, he was a man who committed himself to his art, even to the point of inflicting himself a serious injury on his left harm just so that he would not be enlisted in the German army during WWII. In spite of some limitations with his arm as consequence, Nesch continued to immerge himself in very serious experimentation with the printing press that ultimately led him to discover some innovative techniques with metal printing. For Rolf Nesch, his obsession with printing began in 1919 when he started to work on his first lithographs, and ended abruptly due to a serious brain stroke in 1972 with his last metal prints. Nesch died in Oslo, Norway, in the fall of 1975. Nesch was born in Württenberg, Germany, 82 years earlier in 1893. By 1912 he entered the art academy but was forced to suspend his studies in order to be enlisted in the army and fight in WWI. In 1920 He resumed his artistic education, which he completed three years later in Dresden. Nesch was also a serious painter and even experimented with sculpture all throughout the 1920s, however, by the end of that decade, political issues of the time made Rolf Nesch move to Norway, and from that point forward, he concentrated more on printing. A couple of years after his self inflicting injury, Nesch met his wife, an actress by the name of Ragnhild Hald, in 1945 Nesch was granted Norwegian citizenship, and by 1951 he had settled his family at a country farm in Hallingdal where he established his print studio and produced an incredible collection or vivid graphic work that has always been well praised by art lovers all throughout the world.

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John Wesley: An Artist Who Has Fun

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John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley

John Wesley began his adventures in visual art as an illustrator a little over 40 years ago. By the early sixties, Wesley became more interested in modern art and moved from California to NYC so he could gain connections to the modern art scene of the time. Today, John Wesley is a prominent contemporary artist whose work has been recognized and admired in many well known galleries throughout the world. As I was reading a retrospective biography on the artist and absorbing his aesthetic approach, I began to wonder how other important figures in the creative arts today may be indebted to the work of Wesley. I in particular, admire how the paintings by John Wesley are rich with intelligent humor and eloquence in spite of his simplistic style. Like Roy Lichtenstein in the 60s, John Wesley began to experiment with the appropriation of newspaper comics in the 70s, Wesley also finds a great deal of inspiration for his paintings in mundane, ordinary advertisement clippings; proving that as far as John Wesley is concerned, Pop Art remains alive and strong.

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Picasso: Order in spite of Chaos

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<em>All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up<e/m>.- Pablo Picasso

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.- Pablo Picasso

I love the design element on each of these paintings by Picasso; it’s quite interesting how they seem to project a strong sense of unintentional balance. They’re definitely done by someone who subconsciously had total control of his creative process.

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Diego & Frida:Variations on a Theme

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I was really impressed with these posters, my favorite being the one in the middle; I really like the duality played by the elements in the composition. The poster on top comes second; is amazing how the typographic treatment is reminiscence to Frida’s fashion style. The fluidity, childlike quality of the third poster is also quite striking. Overall, what I like most about these posters is how a simple message can be delivered in so many aesthetic forms. I found all these concepts in the current volume of Graphis Poster annual, they were done by different designers from around the world to honor Frida and Diego’s retrospective year long exhibition hosted at The Fine Arts National Institute of Mexico.

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Claudio Bravo: Strokes with no Traces.

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Claudio Bravo is considered to be one of the last masters of 20th century painting. He started his career as a portrait artist, and has never rejected modern art despite being classical trained with virtuous drawing skills. Critics, who never quit on categorizing everything, have labeled his art as being hyperrealist. To me, Bravo is simply a painter who refuses to be lazy and seems to be in a constant search for complication; and yet, somehow, manages to find the simplest solutions. Bravo was born in Chile and has been living in Morocco for the past 30+ years.

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