Finished this small piece. The results are satisfactory and I am ready to start the larger work for which this was a study. I was apprehensive about stylistically painting these masked figures with my technique (so heavy on facial expressions) hence the need for a study. The larger painting (48″ x 36″) will include perhaps 12 masked figures and twice as many spectators. I like to fill up the canvas with action and a sort of “visual acuity”. My interest in heavy coverage started after a visit decades ago to New York where I witnessed monochromatic works such as this one by Robert Rauschenberg. As a viewer, I felt so very abused. A cheap swindle, indeed. At some point, minimalism is merely the cover for a con. Often, the descriptive language for this type of work is so flowery. As a figurative artist, I can only swallow so much of that mumbo-jumbo. I feel that the work should speak for itself.
I did enjoy painting on this little cypress box frame and I shall have to procure another. It provides a unique presentation.
I’ve been somewhat obsessed of late with the American Regionalism artists from the 1930’s and 40’s. Thomas Hart Benton, Grand Wood and the like. I discovered Benton many years ago and became an instant fan. I find the painting techniques he employed so utterly beautiful and the uniquely distorted perspectives that he often utilized astound me. It’s easy to stare at these masterworks until one’s eyes glaze over. Mine, at least. I’m also particularly fond of Roger Medearis, an apparent student of Benton. I like the curious singular portraits he seemed to do later in his life. “The Good Natured Man”, for example.
I’ve been somewhat obsessed of late with the American Regionalism artists from the 1930’s and 40’s. Thomas Hart Benton, Grand Wood and the like. I discovered Benton many years ago and became an instant fan. I find the painting techniques he employed so utterly beautiful and the uniquely distorted perspectives that he often utilized astound me. It’s easy to stare at these masterworks until one’s eyes glaze over. Mine, at least. I’m also particularly fond of Roger Medearis, an apparent student of Benton. I like the curious singular portraits he seemed to do later in his life. “The Good Natured Man”, for example.