Paul Brandwein - Forces at Play
Opening Reception Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Show runs March 2 - April 27, 2019
Opening Reception Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Show runs March 2 - April 27, 2019
Artist Statement
“When art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine” – Pablo Picasso
From conception to completion of artwork, there are many “forces at play”. Ultimately, most of what I do in my studio is play. I try out solutions to myriad--“what if “ scenarios. The pleasure I derive from “making stuff” has sustained me for the better part of 7 decades. The subject matter has changed over the years, but the joy and frustration remain.
What you see in my work is the confluence of my personal concerns and interests with the practicalities of the world around me. I always want new work for each show, I don’t like feeling like I’m in a comfortable groove. Also, new work always helps to see the older work in a new perspective. Knowing I needed a large piece for the back of the gallery, I started thinking about what surfaces I wanted to work on.
I like the oval. I keep coming back to it again and again. It is pervasive throughout the natural world at all scales. It suggests planetary orbits, embryonic life, and subatomic particles. I love making work that can have allusions to different subjects. I decided to use a large oval shaped wood panel that I rescued from a dumpster years ago. Working within an ellipse would be a welcome challenge for me after years of painting on rectilinear surfaces. I started dozens of sketches of images for it.
But now that I was going to have one oval in the show, I felt like I needed more. So I gessoed over an old work and cut a couple of smaller oval boards….which led to more sketching.
Writing this I am just starting to finish the half dozen or more new pieces for the show. The process varies from exhilarating to maddening as I stumble along trying to keep a balance of the various elements in each composition and finish with as much of the original playful energy still pulsating in the work as I can.
For more information about the artist: Brandweinart.com
“When art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine” – Pablo Picasso
From conception to completion of artwork, there are many “forces at play”. Ultimately, most of what I do in my studio is play. I try out solutions to myriad--“what if “ scenarios. The pleasure I derive from “making stuff” has sustained me for the better part of 7 decades. The subject matter has changed over the years, but the joy and frustration remain.
What you see in my work is the confluence of my personal concerns and interests with the practicalities of the world around me. I always want new work for each show, I don’t like feeling like I’m in a comfortable groove. Also, new work always helps to see the older work in a new perspective. Knowing I needed a large piece for the back of the gallery, I started thinking about what surfaces I wanted to work on.
I like the oval. I keep coming back to it again and again. It is pervasive throughout the natural world at all scales. It suggests planetary orbits, embryonic life, and subatomic particles. I love making work that can have allusions to different subjects. I decided to use a large oval shaped wood panel that I rescued from a dumpster years ago. Working within an ellipse would be a welcome challenge for me after years of painting on rectilinear surfaces. I started dozens of sketches of images for it.
But now that I was going to have one oval in the show, I felt like I needed more. So I gessoed over an old work and cut a couple of smaller oval boards….which led to more sketching.
Writing this I am just starting to finish the half dozen or more new pieces for the show. The process varies from exhilarating to maddening as I stumble along trying to keep a balance of the various elements in each composition and finish with as much of the original playful energy still pulsating in the work as I can.
For more information about the artist: Brandweinart.com
RSVP to the event on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/579912279140820
The Geisel Gallery is located on the Second Floor Mezzanine Floor of Legacy Tower
One Bausch + Lomb Place, Rochester, NY 14604
The Geisel Gallery is located on the Second Floor Mezzanine Floor of Legacy Tower
One Bausch + Lomb Place, Rochester, NY 14604
