Vignette: Geoff Crowe

Artist, Geoff Crowe and his wife, Shannon.

A Different View of Horse Racing

Some artists paint horses - in Kentucky it’s almost a requirement, but in the paintings by Geoff Crowe we see here, he is not painting horses as individual animals as much as capturing the field in a horse race as one, thundering, entity barreling through the dirt and mud directly at us.

Win, Place, & Show, hold little meaning in these compositions, in which Crowe discovers the collective form and violent motion of the Sport of Kings. At times the results are ominous and foreboding, as in “Full Field”, or “Muddy Day”, wherein the point-of-view suggests precipitous danger, the mass of horse and rider abstracted as if we were witnessing the scene through a rain-smeared windshield.

"Muddy Day" by Geoff Crowe, 38x72in, acrylic on canvas (2016). Available at Mellwood Arts Pigment Gallery during May.

In “Race 22” the darkness is replaced by sunlight, and the loose, drip application of some of the paint illustrates the color and kinetic energy we associate with thoroughbred racing, and in “Race 17”, Crowe comes closest to a more standard representational image, in which details of the jockey’s silks are discernable and we can glimpse the individual personality of the horse.

"Race 17" by Geoff Crowe, 36x38in, acrylic on paper (2016). Available at Mellwood Arts Pigment Gallery during May.

The artist began his journey in 2004 in Puerto Rico with a show of children playing soccer and today many of his works focus around ballet and horse racing, with the color and texture of the Caribbean remaining an important influence on his work. These elements also carry across to his sculptures and their organic look and feel. Space and movement play a key role in all of his art.

Crowe studied painting and sculpture in Puerto Rico at La Liga deArte and La Escuela de Artes Plásticos. His work can be found in private and corporate collections in Puerto Rico, Ireland, England, California, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, and New York. His work can be found at Gifthorse and Regalo in Louisville, and Copper Moon in New Albany.

Crowe will be opening Hoof and Earth at the Mellwood Arts Center’s Pigment Gallery Opening on May 2; there will be a closing reception on May 26th.

Hometown: Walnut Grove, California
Age: 56
Education: BS, Business Administration, Minor Finance 4 years Independent study in Art at La Liga de Arte and La Escuela de Arte Plasticas in Puerto Rico
Website: http://www.studiocrowe.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/StudioCrowe/

"Night Race" by Geoff Crowe, 30x60in, acrylic on canvas (2015). Available at Mellwood Arts Pigment Gallery during May.

"Race 22" by Geoff Crowe, 36x60in, acrylic on paper (2017). Available at Mellwood Arts Pigment Gallery during May.

"Full Field" by Geoff Crowe, 36x30in, acrylic on canvas (2017). Available at Mellwood Arts Pigment Gallery during May.

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Julio Cesar Rodríguez

"The Fleeting Reflection" by Julio Cesar Rodríguez, 24x48in, oil on canvas (2016)

Rodríguez at work in his studio.

Julio Cesar Rodríguez describes his work as: “…a mixture of figuration and expressionism with an air of surrealism, where I project my individuality as a creator poetically and philosophically.” Certainly the images call to the viewer’s mind Rene Magritte, even if the impenetrable black hat we find here is a fedora and not the iconic bowler of the famous French surrealist painter.

Drawing on his dreams in the most literal sense, Rodríguez recreates images from the narrative his subconscious weaves at night, wherein the human form occupies space as both object and field. The ubiquitous and benign violation of the body in dreams is brilliantly realized in these paintings, but in terms that are unexpectedly accessible and not so disturbing; flesh becomes wood but is not deconstructed into splinters.

“When I'm painting I feel my mind is opened as a theater stage, and my staging begins to establish itself with its own lights and shadows, colors and strokes; and then going to bed trying to sleep with that huge dark hat is the night. It is in this process where I feel I still perched at that stage…floating in my paintings.”

A detail of one of Rodríguez paintings.

Rodríguez has exhibited internationally and has work in private collections in Cuba, USA, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Belgium, Panama, Argentina, Spain, Ukraine, the Dominican Republic, Germany, and Italy. His most recent show was “SLEEPLESS ILLUSION”, was at Revelry Boutique Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky.

You can visit Julio Cesar Rodríguez in his studio on the southeast side of Louisville during OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND, November 5 & 6, 2016. The event benefits scholarship programs for Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute and tickets may be purchased here. 

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 40
Education: 1988-1995 Fine Art Academy in Holguin, Cuba. Graduated in Painting, Drawing and Photograph
Gallery Representative: Revelry Boutique Gallery

“Fading Flesh” by Julio Cesar Rodríguez, 48x36in, oil on canvas (2016)

“The Mystifying Face of the Moon” by Julio Cesar Rodríguez, 48x36in, oil on canvas (2016)

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2016 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Please contact josh@louisvillevisualart.org for further information on advertising through Artebella.