Tudor and Jacobean Portraits

 

There is a line in a film I watched recently called 'Finding Forrester' in which Sean Connery's character tells his protege that the way to a woman's heart is "an unexpected gift; unexpected time."

 

You might say that a way to a painter's heart is "unexpected inspiration; unexpected time." A casual visit in Devon, England to the ancestral home of Sir Francis Drake, the English explorer plunderer and naval warfare genius, led to discovery of Tudor and Jacobean painting, much of it anonymous and hidden away amongst the nick-nacks of Elizabethan stately homes. I have always been drawn to medieval painting from a time I like to call "Pre-Art". By this I mean art before the 15th Century when it became thoroughly connected to trade, commerce and the cultural demands of society via the Church and the monarchy. Hence my immersion in icon painting and the beginnings of what we call art.

 

The paintings that have influenced these works on display here, are as mysterious and unworldly as Icons. They portray a lost world of which we know very little, passing down through centuries, the romance, intrigue, cruelty, bravado and sheer invention of a time of discovery that is all but lost to us as we hurtle down the information superhighway from the comfort of our homes.

 

Painting seems as good a medium as any to find a way to hang on to the forgotten or overlooked past, and to remember the achievements and failures that have shaped us. They are only glimpses of what may have been---portals, if you like, into a world away from the constant flow of logical information in our time and perhaps a reminder that there are still some things out there that are not known.

 

~ Steve Joy

 

Artist Bio

 

Born in Plymouth, England, in 1952, Joy served in the Royal Air Force from 1968 to 1975, visiting museums and cultural sights on his furloughs. In 1975, he enrolled in art school in London. His earliest works - oil paintings on canvas, some with three-dimensional projections - reflected his desire to escape from the mundane by continued travel. Later, inspired by American Abstract Expressionists such as Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko, Joy sought to break away from the formal aspects of contemporary British painting. Realizing the inherent limitations of abstraction, however, Joy noted, "The only way abstract painting had any chance of survival was to take on the great issues of history." By a combination of travel and painting, he has made a career of this personal journey. He is committed to the idea of spiritual abstraction and the development of painting and its history from the 15th century to today. Influences from the past include the art of Duccio, Giotto, Velasquez, and Matisse.

 

Joy has studied and worked on three continents, in Japan, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Greece, Spain, and now, more permanently, in Omaha, where he first arrived as the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts' curator in 1998 and where he is one of a group of artists with international reputations working in Omaha, Nebraska.

 

Joy's technique and his choice of media have evolved over the years. He creates using rich, saturated colors, squares of gold and silver leaf, and wax. His paintings also reflect a vivid sense of geometry and proportion. Several are punctuated with words as part of the composition. The totality reflects Joy's fascination with exotic cultures, religions, and the great religious works of the history of art, in particular Orthodox icon painting and western European medieval works.

 

2. Bilateral Negotiation, 2010, Gouache, Watercolor, Graphite on Paper, 22" x 30" 

3. Twins, 2009, Gouache, Watercolor, Graphite on Paper, 11" x 14" 

4. VHS or Autocolor?, 2009, Gouache, Watercolor on Paper 8" x 7.5" 

February 7 - April 26, 2014

Artist Statement 

Through my work I envision moments of experimentation and discovery. My current egg tempera paintings embody the quest for narrative alternatives. The history of science and optics inform my recent work, I am especially interested in failed theories and practices that have been out-moded by more prevalent discoveries. I like to imagine the technolo-gies and scientific apparatuses that may be used today had these failed hypotheses held true. What often interests me most about science is the story behind the research and discovery. Behind every theory and conclusion there is a human story, sometimes mundane, sometimes extraordinary. Discovering, analyzing and understanding phenomena are practices that artists and scientists share, but differ in ap-proach. The profoundly strange and wonderful ideas offered by quantum physics, alchemy and science-fiction find a visual adaptation in my work. Past and contemporary pseudo-sciences and super-natural investigations are also very intriguing as wellsprings for narrative potential. Through a combination of visual and narrative experiments, I explore the nature of reality, history and personal experi-ence and hope to create images that are at once captivating and anomalous. 

Artist Bio 

Born in 1981 in Santa Fe, NM 

Amanda Lechner is a visual artist who lives in New York and New Mexico. 

Her studio practice primarily revolves around drawing and painting. Her current egg tempera paintings, images that are at once captivating and anomalous embody a quest for narrative alternatives. Lechner's work has been exhibited throughout the United States. In 2012-13 she co-organized a traveling visual art exhibition featuring the work of 21 art-ists entitled "In Search Of..." that traveled to Rhodes College, University of Kansas and TSA Gallery, Brooklyn. 

Lechner studied painting at the Kansas City Art Institute where she was awarded a BFA with Honors in 2003 and at the Rhode Island School of Design where she received her MFA in 2005.