How does this body of work come to be named American Expressionism? To begin with, such notions do not come to me while making the paintings. It is only after they are done that I dare indulge a consideration of meanings, interpretations or conn-ections. But actually, the spark for the title came from a recent visit to a commercial gallery in Chelsea feat-uring two German Expressionists one of which was Georg Grosz. His pornographic paintings were especially impressive to me for having achieved a delicate balance between art and vulgarity. In
the latter sense I recognized similar, though tangential, expressionistic aspects in my work.
The American part emerged due to the explicit inspiration for my forms: New York Street graffiti. Over the past few years my work has celebrated the esthetic qualities of this particularly native imagery. Indeed I have employed it as a visual vocabulary through which to explore my particular flavor of ‘figurative’ abstraction. But eventually another more implicit affiliation occurred to
me. I’ve come to see my paintings as relating to some of the early Modernists such as Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove and even, Milton Avery (look at my painting, Tenderly). Although I’ve long admired these artists I’ve never considered (until now) a relationship to their art.
In the end, whether my ideas about the work make sense or not is beside the point. They are done, out in the world and must have their own say. I’m now content to be just another viewer, albeit with a vested interest in them.
The Disappointment of Desire, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 42 inches
Me (Detail), 2007, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 26 inches
She (Detail), 2007, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 26 inches
He (Detail), 2007, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 26 inches
My Dark Yearnings (I Want You), 2007, Oil on Canvas, 48 x 53 inches
Something Like Happiness (Me, She, He), 2007, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 42 inches
Mariposa Explosa, 2006, Oil on Canvas, 25 x 28 inches
Island of Women, 2007, Gouache on Paper, 10.5 x 14 inches
Liquid City, 2006, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 50 inches
When East Went West, 2006, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 42 inches
Tenderly, 2006, Oil on Canvas, 34 x 20 inches
Jungle Love, 2007, Gouache on Paper, 10.5 x 14 inches
Tongue Twister, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 48 inches
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