Vignette: Julio Cesar Rodriguez

"Infinity Wings" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 18X14in,  2017, POR

Julio Cesar Rodriguez’ surrealism is pure, in that it derives from an openness bordering on out-of-body experience: “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 still perched at that stage - floating in my paintings.”

We also are tempted to describe these most recent paintings as moving more into abstraction. The traditional surrealist’s descriptive precision with objects, time, and space has not been totally abandoned, but the vigorous kinetic swirl of his compositions partially obscure those elements, and our eye focuses on the few instances of representational clarity. The bird’s head from “Infinity Wings”, for example, or the self-portrait from “The Saved Essence of My Soul”, which makes explicit the feeling of theatricality the artist mentions. The figure might be onstage, or he might be painting a scenic design backstage.

It all reinforces the concept of alternate reality that is a keystone of the surrealist aesthetic. But the images are more than that label would allow. Rodriguez describes his work as, “a mixture of figuration and expressionism with an air of surrealism.” So we also witness his abstraction regroup into suggestions of the representational, as in “Muse Face”.

"The Saved Essence of My Soul" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 48X36in,  2018, POR

“When I am creating I feel locked up in a cage with clouds. They help me hold on to the tightrope of real life and it is then that I feel the exact balance with the doors of my intellect. My love for painting holds me, makes me play attached to a brush, and it is the only time where the magicians’ savor their perfect trick.”

Rodriguez’ new solo exhibition Divine Shadows, opens on April 7th in the Revelry Boutique Gallery, with a reception that evening 7:00 to 10:00 pm, and will continue through the month of April.

Hometown: Holguin, Cuba
Education: BFA, Fine Art Academy, Holguin, Cuba
Gallery Representation: Revelry Boutique Gallery
Website: www.juliocesart.com

 

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"Muse Face" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 15X15in,  2018, POR

"Spring Call" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 16X20in,  2017, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Q&A with Lynn Dunbar, 2018 Kentucky Derby Poster Artist

Lynn Dunbar is a nationally recognized painter who has participated in, and won awards for plein air competitions all over the U.S. Her artwork is featured on the 2018 Kentucky Derby and Oaks Posters available at Churchill Downs, and will be featured on the 2018 Holiday Edition of Woodford Reserve Bourbon.  She has received the Award of Merit 2016, Owensboro Museum of Art, Science and History, Grand Prize Portland Heritage Arts Show 2014, honorable mention at the Salon International 2013, the 2012 Purchase Prize from the Owensboro Museum of Art, and the 2011 Grand Prize from the Louisville Women’s Club. Dunbar’s work has been featured most recently in the September 2017 Plein Air Magazine, and in American Art Review.

In the upcoming weeks there are multiple opportunities to meet the artist and acquire a signed copy of the artist’s Derby poster. A full schedule follows the Q&A.

How did you come to be chosen to paint the official 2018 Derby poster?

I was contacted spring of 2017. I was in New Orleans visiting my daughter when I got the phone call. Needless to say I was surprised. Churchill Downs liked my expressions of Kentucky, especially the riverboats, and asked me if I could send them a few images. I said, give me a couple hours and I will paint a race house too, so that's what I did. I sent them Belle and horse paintings. They were pleased and asked me if I would paint the images for the poster.

How much time did you spend at Churchill Downs?

I visited Churchill Downs to collect information and photograph scenes. I probably worked with Churchill Downs a good 6 months.

You are renowned for your landscapes, but none of your recent work had featured horses. Had you painted them earlier in your career?

I have painted animals including horses, cows and dogs. Now I am really getting into racehorses!

There is an element of the working life on the Ohio River in many of your paintings. Did you see your time at Churchill Downs as documenting another working environment that defines Kentucky?

Yes I do! And I am happy to be “Capturing the Spirit of Kentucky!” I hope to paint more racetrack scenes along with some more of our state’s Bourbon Industry.

"Horse Shoe Bend" by Lynn Dunbar, Oil on canvas, 24x72in, POR

A few years ago, you started painting aerial views, taking in the landscape in a particularly expansive way that really highlighted the Ohio River. Do you plan on returning to that approach?

Yes. I have some new aerials in the works. Craft(s) Gallery will be featuring a show for me of aerials of Kentucky and the Ohio River June 2018.

How has this experience inspired you?

I am so happy to call Kentucky my home! I have so many more paintings to paint on the land and activities in Kentucky. I am proud of the products from our beautiful state.

"Number 4" by Lynn Dunbar, Oil on canvas, 12x9in, 2017, POR

Lynn Dunbar will be signing copies of the Derby poster at the following:

March 23, 12:00 - 2:00pm: Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital. 
4001 Dutchmans Ln, St. Matthews KY. Proceeds benefit the Women’s Breast Cancer Resource Center.

April 12, 12:00 - 2:00pm: Middletown City Hall. 11803 Old Shelbyville Rd. Middletown KY.

April 19, 6:30 - 9:00pm: Derby Divas event at Rodes For Him and For Her. 
4938 Brownsboro Rd, Louisville KY. Proceeds benefit the Norton Cancer Institute Breast Health Program.

April 28 & 29, 10:00am - 6:00pm: Cherokee Triangle Art Fair. Louisville KY

May 4 & 5: Kentucky Oaks & Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. 
700 Central Avenue, Louisville KY. Dunbar will be signing posters in a booth on the main level near Grandstand and in Millionaire’s Row.

"In The Lead" by Lynn Dunbar, Oil on canvas, 36x24in, 2018, POR

"1964 Derby Glass" by Lynn Dunbar, Oil on canvas, 12x8in, 2017, POR

"Oaks Preliminary Skecth" by Lynn Dunbar, Oil on canvas, 12x8in, 2017, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Vignette: Brian Bailey

"I want you to get lost in my work." - Brian Bailey

"Waldeck with Mustard" by Brian Bailey, Oil on found wood door, 80x28in, 2017, POR

Brian Bailey combines a concentration of mark making with an authoritative development of space. For many artists, focusing on surface comes at the expense of depth in the realization of realistic space, but Bailey’s subjects are traditional. The viewer’s awareness of the rigorous application of each brush stroke is but an introduction to the image, one that draws you in to place and atmosphere through texture and composition.

Bailey describes himself as, “first and foremost a landscape painter, although it isn't unheard of for me to crank out a portrait or three. I work exclusively with oil paint. I just love the malleability of it, the fluidity. It can be reworked over and over again. In college, that's where the love affair began with this medium.”

"On the Ohio" by Brian Bailey, Oil on canvas, 18x24in, 2016, POR

“And with Gustav Klimt. his erotica, his portraiture, his obsessive compulsion to fill the canvas with pattern, both organic and geometric. However. the first time I laid eyes on his landscapes, I was immediately intrigued. Depictions of the physical world seen through his eyes are almost reduced to abstraction. I try to emulate his style in the juxtaposition of various blocks, blobs, or blots of color to create a unifying whole. I've been accused of having a ‘talent for the tedious', though in the best way. I want you to get lost in my work."

That tedium of application that Bailey refers to gives a foundation to his work that sets him apart from other landscape artists. To paint nature is to connect with the environment in a meaningful way, and the pattern that Bailey is imposing finds a relationship in the constant and deeply layered reoccurrence of pattern in nature. In “King Tobacco” our eye falls from the clear blue sky, over distant trees and a vast field of plants, until it lands on the details of smaller plants and wild grass on the edge of the crop, an inexorable pull into the smaller and smaller biology that lies beneath. Bailey understanding of this inherent quality is so comprehensive, one wonders if Bailey has studied nature at a microscopic level.

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Education: BFA, The Ohio State University
Instagram: buckeyeartist                                              Scroll down for more images

"King Tobacco" by Brian Bailey, Oil on canvas, 26x30in, 2016, POR

"Barn at Sunset" by Brian Bailey, Oil on canvas, 8x10in, 2018, POR

"Shaker Village" by Brian Bailey, Oil on canvas, 16x20in, 2017, POR

"Yew Dell Too" by Brian Bailey, Oil on canvas, 11x14in, 2017, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Vignette: Elle Brown

“I believe that being a woman is very important, especially in a world that predominantly shuts us down.” – Elle Brown

"A Transitioning" by Elle Brown (detail), Charcoal on paper, 163x18in, 2017, POR

Every art student has a portfolio of work from figure drawing classes, but Elle Brown, a recent BFA recipient from the University of Kentucky, has kept her focus on the human form, developing her studies into a highly personal exploration of gender, body image, and identity.

"A Transitioning" by Elle Brown, Charcoal on paper, 163x18in, 2017, POR

“The general direction my work has been heading in explores larger scale drawings, prints, and paintings using layered print matrixes and inks. Like most of the work I make, my subject matter is mainly the nude female form, considering my work deals with the struggles and misconceptions of my own body image being portrayed to the world in a generation predominantly led by beauty. Body image is something many people, including me, struggle with.”

“The reason I use the female form is because I believe that being a woman is very important, especially in a world that predominantly shuts us down. Fitting into society has always been an enormous concern of mine, to a point where I would alter my image or personality to seem more likeable or approachable. I want my work to ideally omit my feelings and struggles that I have faced, I wish to come to not only love and respect my body and myself, but also not compare myself with the harsh fictions of people portrayed around me.”

Brown appears to be building an ongoing narrative through the use of multiple drawings. In one, extended, series of five-minute drawings that stretches around the walls of the gallery, she creates a frieze-like presence around us using our innate sense of linear flow to lead us into “reading” the work as we would a comic book panel.  "Being an art history minor and traveling through Europe, I would see elaborate friezes which is what always fascinated me the most about the buildings. Depicting movement and interaction, I created this installation as a viewing to see the day to day, pure form of a woman."

“I want to portray the mood and feelings of my own body. I do this by using a muted color palette along with subject matter connected to these feelings. I also play with what makes a piece of work finished or unfinished. I believe there is a giving balance that expresses gestural implied shapes, and skillful specific lines.”

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BFA, Art Studio, University of Kentucky, Minor, Art History
Website: wixsite/ellebrown
Instagram: ellebrownart

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"Free Yet Restricted" by Elle Brown, Oil on canvas, 36x48in, 2017, POR

"Still" by Elle Brown, Charcoal on paper, 22x30in, 2017, POR

"Con(fusion)" by Elle Brown, Charcoal on paper, 22x30in, 2017, POR

"Imagined Trophy" by Elle Brown, Oil on canvas, 41x58in, 2017, POR

"Light Through The Storm" by Elle Brown, Charcoal on paper, 10x13in, 2018, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Vignette: Cathy Shepherd

"Veronica" by Cathy Shepherd, Acrylic, 11x14in, 2017. POR 

The human subject never fails to fascinate. Capable of kinetic action and infinite expression, it also is compelling in repose. We love to examine each other, or perhaps it is narcissistic self-obsession as a species. Painter Cathy Shepherd understands that stillness does not necessarily equal an inert state for human beings.

“People have been my main focus through the years. I like to capture the moment of decisions. To some people, this just looks like sitting around, but to me it's the time when things are churning and clicking; the moment before someone says, "That's it! That's what I'm going to do," and jumps up and runs toward that thing.  As a result, my compositions are becoming less surrounding, more close-up.”

“But I still have to paint, even when a subject can't pose, and to my surprise and delight, I've found that still life subjects have personality and big skies are pretty heady characters themselves. Even then, I'm looking for something in the human experience we all share, whether it's animal, vegetable, or mineral.“

"Peonies in Green Glass Vase" by Cathy Shepherd, Oil, 10x8in, 2017. POR

Shepherd may study her subjects closely, but the paintings are fresh and spontaneous, built with assured marks and a careful control of the medium. Her images never feel overworked or fretted over, and that ease may indeed come from a foundation.

“Underneath all of these is drawing. I’ve had wonderful mentors but I don’t exactly follow in their footsteps. Two of my teachers, Philip Pearlstein and Mary Ann Currier, were exacting realists, but Lennart Anderson and Sidney Goodman were tonalists - one classical and one dramatic.  The underlying thread connecting all of them, and me, is drawing as the foundation on which the painting is built. My best drawings are under paintings. And light. I always love light.”

Shepherd is a past recipient of the Al Smith Fellowship and is currently showing as a part of Five Exceptional Painters at Galerie Hertz. The exhibit runs through March 24.

Hometown: Paris, Kentucky
Education: BFA, Louisville School of Art/University of Louisville; Four-year certificate in painting, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; MFA, CUNY, Brooklyn College Center for Book Arts, NYC, non-degree
Website: www.cathyshepherd.com
Gallery Representation: Galerie Hertz (Louisville)

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"Cape in Snow" by Cathy Shepherd, Oil, 8x8in, 2017. POR

"Reverie" by Cathy Shepherd, Monotype, 9x12in, 2017. POR

"Derrick" by Cathy Shepherd, Water color, 12x14in, 2017. POR

"Blue Slip" by Cathy Shepherd, Acrylic, 11x14in, 2017. POR

"Summer Sky Over VFW" by Cathy Shepherd, Oil, 32x40in, 2017. POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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