RE-CREATIONS
-or-
Newly Finished Old Paintings
Collages and Oil Pastels
Europa on my mind
oil on masonite
11x14 inches
September 26 through October 19
Frable Gallery
Artist Statement
I do not plan a painting ahead-of-time. What I paint and how I paint it is guided by the ebb and flow of my painting ideas. When a painting idea appears on the canvas I grab hold of it and vigorously push it in its own direction independently of what came before or what I previously had in mind. It has its own life. And I respect that. A fundamental change, even re-doing the entire work, can happen as long the painting is in my possession. Which means a work generally takes a long time to finish. "It ain't over till it's over."1
I find painting boring unless I can use my imagination. My imagination craves, demands, participation in the painting process, selecting out what to keep and what to discard, what to emphasize and what to minimize, what to hold right-side up or upside down. I find it so satisfying to imaginatively construct other worlds, other persons, playing them out of my fantasies. I actualize them using the materials of painting, the plastic means: line, light and dark, mass and space and, most importantly for me, color. You will witness figurative elements, if there happen to be any, which are unlike what you have ever seen. You will find an unlikely, bizarre geometry of space and mass where space is portrayed as shallow or deep, mass as small or humongous. They are displayed in a combinatorial mix where they clearly do not conform to ordinary geometry let alone appeal to one�s expectations. And most important is color that I use to bring together all the units of the painting so as to preserve overall picture harmony as well as allure, or dispute, your personal visual logic. Through distortion of the plastic means I communicate to the viewer a particular feeling that drives me, or an idea, shifting emphasis from what is ordinarily seen in everyday life to an abruptly different, perhaps shocking and confrontational, perception.
This artist is not looking to give pleasure and comfort to the viewer so much as to communicate a vision that the artist holds strongly, passionately. He is not courting the viewer�s comfort and satisfaction by appealing to previously held ideas of what was or what should be. He wishes to show alternate painting ideas even if they inadvertently offend everyday esthetic sensibilities. Viewing my work is not for entertainment. It is for an active sharing of ideas & feelings.
My paint handling is loose, rapid, irregular, sometimes dense, uneven, and perhaps at times, bravura. I want to avoid a look of polished, craftsmanship. So doing allows the art quality of the work to dominate. I do not want the art quality to be sidetracked by the look of the hardworking perfection of craftsmanship.
Often I explore painting�s language of abstraction and figuration through many differently handled versions of the same subject.
My work is in the formalist tradition. My main interest in painting pictures is to express and communicate to others what I think & feel.
Irving Aronowitz
August 9, 2008
1 Yogi Berra
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Opening Reception Fourth Friday
September 26,
7-10 pm
Featuring music by "Rattlemouth"
at 8:00 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Sunday,
October 19
4:00 pm
artspace presents
an Artist Talk with Exhibiting Artists
Free and Open to the Public
Haitian festivity
oil on masonite
4x8 inches
La toilette
oil on masonite
2x6 inches
Persephone in captivity
oil on masonite
9x12 inches
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