Progress

Al Held

Al Held

Al Held

Al Held- This piece is at the San Antonio Museum of Art

Recently, I took a business trip to San Antonio, Texas. In my downtime there, I was able to stop by the San Antonio Museum of Art, which if you have never been there, is IMMENSE. I counted about 5 or 6 floors in this building, each floor holding a different unique exhibit. I saw a beautiful Helen Frankenthaler piece, a Diebenkorn, and I discovered this wonderful contemporary artist named Al Held, who had a gigantic monster of a painting on the 1st floor by the entrance of the museum. I have never spent so much time gazing at a piece before. I guess maybe it was the sheer size, the flatness that I love to use in my own work, but mostly it was how dimensional and spacious the painting was in spite of all of its clean and flat handling. I even teared up a little bit while I looked. For more on this late, great artist, click here.

Three Big Paintings

So I mostly enjoy working small, but with larger surfaces to work on, I feel less inhibited to just add tons of stuff, multiple areas of pattern, all that good stuff. I also think for the most part, big paintings are more impressive in scale and they invite the viewer to come a little closer and really study all the marks you have made. I recently painted a few small babies, but these three are what I'm really interested in right now. They take up a whole lot of space in the studio and are therefore pretty difficult to photograph, but that won't be as important until they are finished. For now, this is what you get. The top two photos are of Decorators, but the bottom one is going to be a simple seascape sticking with the more blue/green palette. This one will be more experimental with different ways of paint handling than my simple layered flatness. I want to leave a lot of that toned background showing through and I also want to scratch in to the paint in a few areas, maybe try out some oil glazing on top.

Sellables

Comment below if interested or send an email to chloe.york@hotmail.com.

Acrylic on Panel 6"x14" $75

Acrylic on Canvas 6"x8" $40

Acrylic on Canvas 6"x8" $40

Acrylic on Panel $40

Acrylic on Panel 8"x8" $50

Images from the Show

Come to my New Solo Show

The Decorator XXI in Progress

I'm limiting my colors in this one to plum, mint, chartreuse, teal, and butter. I love all my colors, but I need to simplify my palettes a little bit and not get stuck on one way of working. Also, I apparently own tons of paint.

The Decorator XX

The Decorator XIX

Acrylic on Canvas 4'x6' 2013

Almost there!

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This big guy should be finished sometime tonight, but here is a little more progress shots to tide you over until then. I have to stand on a chair to reach the top part of the canvas cause I'm a little shrimp.

Jason deCaires Taylor

It is pretty much evident enough why I like these so much. I don't know if Taylor intended for these sculptures to form a new kind of aesthetic in their surroundings over time, but the effect is very special and the sea creatures now have more reefs to inhabit.

Progression on a new (and large) Decorator portrait

So that big canvas I've been working on? Here is what it looks like now. I'm excited to get to work large again and really hone in on those details.

A Few Upcoming Shows to Watch out For

I've been quite busy of late. Here are some shows I will take part in around late March and April. Please come out and show support, not just for me, but for other Memphis art peoples well deserving of your appreciation and love.

Friday, March 15th: Hanging Participles-Marshall Arts Gallery
More info here


Monday, April 1st: Super Epic Memphis Unicorn Magical Exhibition Show-The Wrong Again Gallery and Marshall Arts Gallery (note: this is NOT an April Fool's prank. This show is happening and it will blow you away).
More info here

I am also having a solo showing of my Decorators at Java Cabana at the beginning of April. This one is currently in the works, so stay tuned for more details.

Working Big Again

Check in soon for more updates. A big thank you to Eric Quick for making this frame for me while I was at work.

Collaboration Updates