My Artist's Statement for the Philadelphia Open Studio Tour 2023

 Thanks to the generosity of a friend and local artist, who is lending me a wall, I am participating in this year's Philadelphia Open Studios Tour.  10/14 & 10/15, noon - 6 pm.  Spring Garden Street, Studio 303, Phila, PA.  I will be on hand both days to talk about my paintings and take questions, as will my host, Kathleen Catanese, who will also have artwork on view.  I thought that perhaps my artist's statement might pique your interest, so here it is:

Artist's Statement:

I grew up in New York and I draw my inspiration from the city's urban landscape, choosing that as my primary subject matter.  Most of my paintings are done in studio, but I always try to do some preliminary studies on site because it is important to me to have had some firsthand experience of my subject.  I also try to convey the wonder and awe of being in a city this vast and grand; and on the flipside, the sense of anonymity and aloneness one often experiences as well.  I have observed many of the transformations the city has undergone over the decades.  Therefore, memory often informs my work, imbuing it with an element of nostalgia.

I am also a Realist painter, so the limitations and illusory aspect of perception is of particular interest, and I try to convey that in my work.  Specifically, the ambiguity of how light and shadow defines form.  While I am a representational painter, I consider my paintings to be abstractions of reality.  And, though I avoid illustration, I appreciate the narrative aspect that all representational painting unavoidably has, and the "story" I have to tell is about the continuous reconfiguration of New York.  I know from firsthand observation how dramatically a city's neighborhoods can change socially, culturally and economically; undergoing structural changes as well as demographic shifts.  Landmarks such as the Guggenheim Museum and Jefferson Market Library offer counterpoints to the surrounding flux, which is one reason such structures often serve as the focal point of my cityscapes, but my subject is really the greater context in which they exist.  That context takes several forms:  In my paintings the play of light and shadow defines the buildings and their relation to their environs.  The white facade of the Guggenheim is particularly sensitive to changing light as can be seen in my painting Summer Evening in New York, where the colors range from buttery yellow to greyish violet; and shadows and reflections from across the street appear on the museum exterior, hinting at the physical reality beyond.  Likewise, in my painting Jefferson Market Library the city beyond the picture plane can be glimpsed, reflected in the windows of the foreground building.

                                            Summer Evening in New York, 16" x 20,' acrylic

                                            on canvas.  All right s reserved to the artist.

                                            Jefferson Market Library IV, 14' x 20," watercolor

                                            and gouache on illustration board.  All rights reserved.

However, some of the city's landmarks neither offer a contrast to the city's flux nor embody it, instead they stand apart from it.  That is the certainly the case with City College's Shepard Hall.  The building is featured in East Harlem Campus and the setting seems more pastural than urban-----at least when there aren't any students around.  I first saw the campus last year with the plein air group Urban Sketchers; I was surprised and taken by how separate the place looks from the usual crowded, structurally haphazard aspect of so much of the city.  In East Harlem Campus I wanted to capture the tranquil and idyll quality of the place.

                                            East Harlem Campus, 14" x 18," oil on canvas.  All

                                             Rights reserved to the artist.

In addition to paintings of New York, I have done some of Philadelphia.  I lived in Philly only briefly decades ago, but in recent years I have had more than a few occasions to visit, thanks to the generosity of a local friend.  I have taken advantage of those visits to sketch, paint and photograph various sites in and around the city.  My paintings of South 9th Street, the Italian Market's main drag, are my most successful efforts to date to capture the essence of one of Philadelphia's neighborhoods.

                                             Early Morning in South Philly, 14" x 14," acrylic

                                             on canvas.  All rights reserved.

I like the historic status and distinct character of the neighborhood:  It looks impervious to the development that is so prevalent in much of the city these days.  Although, one senses that eventually this area too will give way to new construction.  Perhaps some of the empty storefronts, such as those that can be glimpsed in Early Morning in South Philly are a harbinger of things to come.

                           

My Painting, The View from the El, Featured at the First Street Gallery's Exhibition: Nocturne.

The View from the El, 22" x 30," watercolor and gouache on paper.

 

My painting The View from the El is featured in the national juried exhibition Nocturne:  First Street Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, Suite 514, NYC.  July 28 - August 26, 2023.  Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 6 pm.  I am thrilled to be a part of this fascinating show:  The theme is a perfect fit for me as I have painted many nocturnal scenes of New York over the years.  I hope you get to see it before it closes! 

         My nocturnal scenes of New York are evocative of everything I most associate with the city:  A sense of anonymity, or aloneness; the insignificance of the individual in the midst of a place this huge, this densely populated.  In my painting, The View from the El, the sole 24-hour business is a lonely beacon in a sea of darkness, which is meant to be a metaphor for urban isolation-----a Hopperesque "lonely city."  Despite the angst, there is something magical about the way nighttime transforms the urban landscape:  The darkness obscures the massiveness of the architecture, while electric lights create an illusory and ethereal environment.  When it is very dark out, much of the solid structure of the city disappears, leaving it to be defined instead by the illumination and ambient light from the street, storefronts and neon signs.

        Like many of my nightscapes, The View from the El is painted with watercolor.  The medium    is particularly suited for what I want to convey:  such as the ethereal quality even the blackest night sky has; the diffusion of light against the darkness; and the limitations and illusory aspect of perception.  Before I began painting, though, I mapped out the composition in pencil.  Then, I began the painting process with layers of translucent watercolor:  The multiple layers create a sense of insubstantiality and depth more readily than a single opaque layer could.  Special attention was paid to the tone and value as multiple washes were applied.  I left the paper unpainted where the finished work is white, or only lightly tinted.  I then added white gouache to those areas that I wanted to have a heightened luminosity.

        I studied with Paul Ching-Bor at the Art Students League (as well as others).  It is from Ching-Bor that I learnt the technique of using a combination of translucent and opaque watercolors.  The technique has made it possible for me to create more varied surfaces and heightened contrasts of value and luminosity.  Which has allowed me to create more powerfully evocative and expressive paintings than could be achieved with a more traditional approach to watercolor.

        Go see my painting in person!  You will not be disappointed!