Friday, July 23, 2010

Studies in visual perception of Abstract Realism

Titles: "Block," "Butter" or "Tower"

















Titles:
"Butter with Blocks" or "City"

13 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Giorgio Morandi influence?

2:21 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Raimonds Staprans.

2:29 PM  
Blogger Randall said...

This is deffinitely different for me to look at and ponder. I do like the color differences and the paint effects you do so well. I'd say keep them coming, what else you got.

~Kirby

7:22 PM  
Blogger mrm said...

Mr Wray,

I love these paintings (and your work in general) and from what little I have seen of Raimonds Straphan’s work, appear more expressive in terms of paint application--or at least to my eyes. And thanks for taking the time to blog (and for the Straphans heads up--this is the first time I have heard of him) as I have learned a lot strolling thru your archives.

8:22 AM  
Blogger William K. Moore said...

I like it! I see the city planners were on their game.

9:10 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Strapans... Great Master. I love his work.

9:43 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

MM-- I'm looking at RS, breaking some elements down, not coping him directly, not trying to be him, but find my own way to be inspired by him, to understand how he gets his results...

11:40 AM  
Blogger mrm said...

Didn’t mean to imply any copying going on :)

Still, the for the sake of novelty school has given influence a bad rap; but I don’t see any tracing of stylistic contours in your work--I see a quest for the essential if you will. Not to say there is not a lot of banal copying going on (I'm guilty as charged!) in today’s representational art world, there is, one only has to look at all the truck and kitchen scenes being painted one after another. But even at that, one artist paints a truck and makes it personal and deep, while another chases a fad--or at least to my eyes.

The great British sculptor Jacob Epstein wrote an essay expounding of the differences between imitation and influence. A couple of sentences below:

“There are no sharp dividing lines in art, and artists, separated by centuries and continents, will enjoy the same experiences, and hit upon the same truths, in some cases by intuition, in others by a complicated process of reasoning. When a certain movement is in the air, it will be assimilated in a hundred different manners…”

Love your work.

7:29 AM  
Blogger Donald Frazell said...

I was going to say morandi also, and still do. Had never heard of Strapans before, excellent work. definitely a caliufornia school artist, that Bay area groups that included later Thiebaud, despite his protetations, and definitely of Diebenkorn. but with a more acrylic sensability in color.

Wish we had grown with the great color and structural sense those older painters had, instead of taking a tangent with the art school brats of Ferus gallery who brought their adolescent "witty' and "clever" art as a plague upon us, damn useless art schools. Conceptualism and pop is so much easier to teach, artists are made through life, not created in academic sterility.

Nice studies, they look like they will lead so much more, though simplicity can be fulfilling, witness Morandi's work itself. Been doing still lifes myself after the murals of last year, more in the Braque vein, complicated and musical, yet as simplified as a Miles Davis piece. At least that is always teh goal, being a matisse is a rather lofty goal, and Miles was that of modern music. As Henri recognized in his Jazz portfolio. All with nine fingers now, little rat faced brat took a hunk out of the Toreador, but this bull keeps on going. Dont mess with Taureans.

As always love your work, the one in the post above is quite beautiful. You know color is my thing.

art collegia delenda est
Save the Watts Towers, tear down the Ivories.
Yeah, still at it.

7:35 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

11:40 AM
Blogger Michael McConnell said...

Didn’t mean to imply any copying going on :)



T dop hanks M— I know you didn’t--;-)

I think copying is good as in master copying and exploring the why’s of an artists style, Where it become a problem is when you try and be a clone of someone (as you know.)

8:10 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

thanks Donald-- I agree with all you thoughtful musings and would love to see your work in person sometime.

8:12 PM  
Blogger Jala Pfaff said...

Cool.

9:43 PM  
Blogger Donald Frazell said...

Just had my triptych up in glendale for their open studio tour, quite a waste of time. My friend steve hangs shows, and always do when he asks, real good guy, and quite talented at it.

Not sure when I will again, not exactly in the flow of contempt art, no one will touch me now. so be it, but opportunites will arise, people do crave art, sad so little of it is ever presented for us. Certainly not through the media, not in thier interests apparently.

Would love to see yours, but been busy helping the wife with her new magazine, and recovering from my wounds, i am tough and done so quickly. gotta be here in the LBC. This aint WeHo.

Let me know your next show, and i will get there for sure. It is interesting how you are so graphic and line based though with rich colors in your cartoon work, yet so painterly yet structured here.

Doing some portraits more painterly myself now smaller, under 4', murals are different and treated in various other ways, dont have the time or talent to be Monet.
Hope to meet you soon. donald

10:16 AM  

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