Tag Archive | Portraits

Everyday Heroes NYC By Alexander Millar

High and Mighty, 2018 (All Photos By Gail)

Following a five-day preview run, ideally located at the New York City Fire Museum on Spring Street, artist Alexander Millar’s firefighter portrait series, Everyday Heroes NYC moves on to a two-week run in a popular pop up space in SoHo. Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, but now living in the north of England, Millar is a self-taught contemporary impressionist with a particular interest in late 19th and early 20th century blue collar workers.

Portrait of Wesley A. Williams

Millar now brings his critically acclaimed artwork to Manhattan with his series of original oil paintings and pencil sketches of New York Firefighters, some of whom have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. The series is, not surprisingly, very moving, includes a portrait of Wesley A. Williams. Born in Manhattan in 1897, Williams became only the third African-American to join the New York City Fire Department, at a time of segregation and discrimination. He became the first African-American to be promoted to the rank of officer, when he became a lieutenant in 1927. Williams (now deceased) retired in 1952 with the rank of Battalion Chief.

A Group of Firefighters Raise the Flag at Ground Zero in A New Dawn (2018)

Everyday Heroes NYC is a collection of original oil paintings and limited edition prints which pay tribute to firefighters both past and present; fathers, brothers, songs, daughter, mothers and sisters. Everyday heroes. These portraits were inspired by and honors the men and women of the New York Fire Department; some of whom perished in the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks.

The subject of Forever in Your Arms (2018) is modeled after Keithroy Maynard, who was one of twelve African American firefighters to die at the WTC on 9/11. Maynard was just 30 years old.

Painted in a similar style is We Can Be Heroes, seen here as the original oil painting from which a limited print series will be available. The final version of the print will not feature any reference to the FDNY, but will reference New York only, and it can be customized by Millar with any name of your choosing added to the jacket.

Fuerza Y Honor (Strength and Honour), 2018

I like this one a lot.

Power and Glory (2018)

This one is great, too. This lady was at the opening reception.

No One Left Behind (2018)

Alexander Millar’s Everyday Heroes NYC will be on Exhibit Through Saturday, April 20th, 2018 at Millar Fine Art Gallery, a Pop Up Space Located at 138 Wooster Street, NYC 10012. 20% of the profits from sales of these artworks will be donated to the city’s Fire Museum and the Vulcan Society. Visit the Exhibit’s Website at This Link!

Installation View

Pop Culture Icons Get Dissected in Nychos’ IKON, at Jonathan LeVine Gallery

Jun29

Dissection of Spock, 2016, By Nychos (All Photos By Gail)

The Vienna, Austria-based artist known as Nychos has many admirable qualities: mad talent, an appreciation for his fans, and an uncanny resemblance to Mexican actor / heartthrob Gael Garcia Bernal. It was certainly a pleasure to meet him, look at his fun art and gaze into his face at the reception for his new series of deconstructed Pop Art portraits, IKONS — which opened at Jonathan LeVine over Pride Weekend.

Left: Dissection of Marilyn, Right: Dissection of Tweety

For IKONS, Nychos chose well-known subjects that include cartoon characters, Superheroes, and celebrities, both living and dead, whose likenesses have become ubiquitous. Looking for a new way to approach portraiture, the artists then “reveals” his subjects in a brutal and clinically precise fashion: dissecting the face, and sometimes the entire body, and layering the parts in a grotesquely cartoonish array. The results are absolutely captivating and ripe with dark humor.

Dissection of Spiderman

I love the graceful sense of motion that you see in the above rendering of Spiderman.

Barbie Meltdown

In the case of Barbie, and the Staypuft Marshmallow Man (below), the character’s inner workings are revealed as the flesh melts away as if they had been dipped in an acid bath.

Marshmallow Meltdown

Dissection of Lemmy

This one of Lemmy is really great. Geoffrey kept saying how much Nychos‘ work reminded him of Alex Grey, which I can also see on a very basic level, though not enough to assume he is an influence.

Nychos Signs for a Fan at Saturday’s Reception

Dissection of Supermario

Nychos has also contributed a mural to this years’ edition of the Coney Art Walls on Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, adjacent to Luna Park. We are looking forward to checking that out!

IKON By Nychos will be on Exhibit Through July 23rd, 2016 at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Located at 529 West 20th Street, 9th Floor, in the Chelsea Gallery District.

Dissection of Darth Vader’s Head

Left: Dissection of Batman, Right: Arnie Meltdown

John Singer Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends at the Met, Closing October 4th!

Sep29

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) 1884 (All Photos By Gail)

I think I sat on this a little bit longer than I should have, because I expected this exhibit to be up for a couple more months instead of ending this coming weekend. My bad! You are advised to act fast and make it to The Met to take in Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends before it closes next Sunday! Here are a few of my favorite paintings from the show, along with background on what you’ll see!

La Carmencita, 1890

Throughout his career, the celebrated American painter John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) created exceptional portraits of artists, writers, actors, dancers, and musicians, many of whom were his close friends. As a group, these portraits — many of which were not commissioned — are often highly charged, intimate, witty, idiosyncratic, and more experimental than his formal portraiture. Brilliant works of art and penetrating character studies, they are also records of relationships, influences, aspirations, and allegiances.

Claude Monet, 1887

Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends brings together ninety-two of the artist’s paintings and drawings of members of his impressive artistic circle. The individuals seen through Sargent’s eyes represent a range of leading figures in the creative arts of the time such as artists Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin, writers Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and the actor Ellen Terry, among others.

Shakespearean Actor Ellen Terry As Lady Macbeth, 1889

The exhibition features some of Sargent’s most celebrated full-length portraits (Dr. Pozzi at Home, Hammer Museum), his dazzling subject paintings created in the Italian countryside (Group with Parasols [Siesta], private collection), and brilliant watercolors (In the Generalife, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) alongside lesser-known portrait sketches of his intimate friends (Vernon Lee, 1881, Tate). The exhibition explores the friendships between Sargent and his artistic sitters, as well as the significance of these relationships to his life and art.

Shakespearean Actor Edwin Booth, 1890 (Brother of John Wilkes Booth)

A Dinner Table at Night (Edith and Albert Vickers), 1884

Garden Study of the Vickers Children (Billy and Dorothy), 1884

Mrs. Hugh Hammersley (Mary Frances), 1892

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887

Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1888

The story of Sargent’s relationship with each of his subjects is posted next to each painting and it is such a fascinating history lesson and a rapturous trip back in time to imagine what life must have been like for these people. What’s even more exciting is that photography is allowed, and that almost never happens, so please try to see this exhibit before it closes.

Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends, will be on Exhibit Through October 4th, 2015 in Gallery 999 of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Located at 1000 Fifth Ave at 81st Street, New York, NY.

Chuck Close, Red Yellow Blue at Pace Gallery

Sep23

All Photos By Gail

Artist Chuck Close is renowned for his highly inventive investigations into how we process information. Celebrated internationally, Close uses the absolute minimum amount of information necessary to render likenesses. In the new works for his sixteenth exhibition with Pace, entitled Red Yellow Blue , Close continues his involvement with the grid as an organizing device, creating full-color paintings out of only cyan, magenta, and yellow pigments, and layering colors in singular brushstrokes; applying multiple thin washes of red, yellow and blue paint in each cell of the grid, until they accumulate into extravagant full-color images.

Although the works represent a new direction for Close, they are also a revival and reconsideration of processes he first used in the 1970s when he first restricted his palette to three colors, coaxing different saturations of paint and hue into photorealist portraits; however, this time the color has no relationship to reality.

Cindy, 2013

The earliest works in the exhibition — portraits of Cindy Sherman and Cecily Brown — reveal the beginnings of this process, leaving the painting’s development visible.

Cecily, 2013

Cecily, Detail

When viewed up close, the portrayed subjects disintegrate into grids of color evocative of Paul Klee’s Magic Square paintings. These works attest to a heightened interest in the effects of color and suggest a new way of challenging the processes through which his portraits are constructed. It allows the arrtist to create distinct works from the same image through different saturations and juxtapositions of hue.

Chuck Close: Red Yellow Blue will be on Exhibit Through October 17th, 2015 at Pace Gallery, Located at 534 West 25th Street in the Chelsea Gallery District.

Preview: Russell Young’s Fame/Shame at Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, Reception September 17th

Sep16

All Photos By Gail

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 17th (6-8pm)

Bertrand Delacroix Gallery is thrilled to announce FAME/SHAME, a one-time special collaboration between the gallery and famed British artist Russell Young. The artist is internationally renowned for his colorful enamel screen-print paintings of celebrities, often coated in shimmering diamond dust. In Anna Wilding’s documentary on the artist, he states:

“My art is best described as fame and shame.”

This is exemplified in this exhibition’s mix of glamorous celebrity photos and mug shots.

Young’s signature technique combines painting and photography to produce a unique effect. He sources the photographs from newspaper cuttings, auctions, celebrities themselves and even police departments.

Afterwards, he is intimately involved in every step of the screen-printing process. In fact, he is known for his sensational silk-screen performances, where he often signs his work with his own blood.

In 2007, he started to incorporate diamond dust into his work, a process, which not only distinguishes his work but also makes each piece unique as the crystals are individually applied. The final results are bold and provocative representations of American media. The iconic pop portraits capture the glamour, pain and anguish that come with being in the public eye. They do not seek to simply idealize the famous but to question the culture of fame and its effect on both those who attain it and those who worship it.

Born in York, England in 1959, Young studied photography, film and graphic design at the Chester Art College and then attended Exeter Art College. Afterwards, he moved to London and gained recognition photographing R.E.M., the The Smiths, Morrissey, Bjork, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross and Paul Newman during the late 1970’s.

Afterwards, the artist transitioned into the music industry, where he directed over 100 major music videos for MTV during the 1990s. In September 2000, while living in New York City, Young started to focus on his passion for art and painting. It was at this time that he first collaborated with BDG founder Bertrand Delacroix and master printer Luther Davis, of Axelle Editions in Brooklyn, New York – a sister company to BDG. He began to create the enamel screen-print paintings on linen of celebrities. Davis remains the only printer that Young works with on his art and the artist remained close friends with Bertrand Delacroix until Delacroix’s passing in 2015. This exclusive 3-week collaboration celebrates this long-standing partnership.

Young has established himself as one of the most collected artists of our time; his work has been shown in London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, Detroit, Miami and Los Angeles and is in the private collections of President Barack Obama, David Bowie, David Hockney, Marc Jacobs as well as in the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Polk Museum in Florida and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. His works have sold at auction in the US and UK through Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips de Pury.

The artist currently resides in California. He will attend the opening reception on Thursday, September 17th.

Russell Young’s Fame/Shame will be on Exhibit Through September 29th, 2015 at Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, Located at 535 West 25th Street, in the Chelsea Gallery District.

Last Rites Gallery Presents Transfigure Group Show

Aug28

Sarah Joncas Otherworldly (All Photos By Gail)

Last Rites Gallery is currently hosting Transfigure, a group exhibition featuring new paintings by Sarah Joncas (whose work we first saw at Last Rites way back in 2011), along with Alex Garant, and husband and wife collaborative duo Kit King and Corey Popp, known creatively as Oda & King. This is a fresh group of artists that are bringing something cool and dark to contemporary portraiture.

Oda & King, Creation

Transfigure explores the overall theme of transforming one idea into something more beautiful or elaborate. The shared goal is to inspire discussion which bridges the gap between styles, mediums and other aesthetic factors existing within the realm of artistry.

For this exhibition, each artist has chosen to move beyond his or her central medium and explore the convolution of experiences, which stem from the creative process. Alex Garant has painted a collection of women’s traditional portraits with a surreal edge; where each subject not only appears to have Multiple Eyes, but multiple countenances, entirely. The painting above, of a young girl holding her pet rabbit, is absolutely astounding.

Alex Garant, Boudoir

Oda & King, Our Little Secret

My eyes sting just looking at this one.

Sarah Joncas, Wither

Oda & King, Refugee

This presentation of shifting techniques examines the complex relationship amongst artists, object, and form as well as the formative innovations that occur when one decides to move beyond their comfort zone.

Transfigure will be on Exhibit through October 3rd, 2015 at Last Rites Gallery, Located at 325 West 38th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) in NYC.

Last Rites Gallery Presents: Chet Zar’s The Demon Show

May28

All Photos By Gail

Do you like Monsters? I sure do. And one thing I know is that artist Chet Zar likes to paint Monsters, and no one does that better than him.

Chet Zar’s monsters are the stuff that the very best nightmares are made of, which is why it makes sense that he has worked as a make-up and effects specialist for the horror film industry, and has also been involved with videos for bands like Tool, whom I am sure you will agree have produced some fucked up videos.

Through July 3rd, 2015, Last Rites Gallery is hosting Chet Zar’s latest exhibit, The Demon Show, which is a must-see for all fans of horror and dark pop surrealist art.

These are so great.

I think the guy on the left in the above photo is one of my favorites. I can imagine him in a movie.

If you are an art collector, or even just a wanna-be collector fan, who thinks you could never afford art this amazing, I am now going to tell you that you are incorrect. These paintings have a price point that is very accessible. While I am not sure if that bad ass tentacled-skull frame is included, even if that cost extra, it would be worth it. Maybe you would not want to hang one of these guys over your bed, but then again why not keep your dreamscape interesting?

Chet Zar’s The Demon Show will be on Exhibit Through July 3rd, 2015 at Last Rites Gallery, Located at 325 West 38th Street (Between 8th and 9th Aves) in NYC.

Pink Think of The Day: Elizabeth Taylor by Russell Young

May21

Photo By Gail

Russell Young (born March 13, 1959) is a British-American artist. In the late 1970s, while living in London, he gained recognition photographing the early live club shows of Bauhaus, R.E.M. and The Smiths. During this period he shot portraits of Morrissey, Bjork, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, New Order, Diana Ross, and Paul Newman. In 1986, he shot the Faith sleeve for George Michael. In the following ten years he directed more than 100 music videos during the heyday of MTV.

In September 2000, while living in New York City, he began to concentrate on art and to devote himself to painting. Young is best known for his enamel, screen-print paintings on linen, which explore celebrity, rock and roll, death and history. His earliest notable works as an artist are his “Pig Portraits” – life-size Police mug shots of celebrities screened onto canvas. First shown in 2003, they proved a critical success and were exhibited in London and the United States.

Russell Young is represented by Taglialatella Galleries in NYC and you a can see a good selection of his large, glittery portraits any day, just by popping in during regular business hours. I took this shot of Young’s portrait depicting a stunning Liz Taylor at the opening reception for the launch of his new print of Jackie O. You miss so much when you don’t live in NYC.

William Basso Mise En Scene at Last Rites Gallery

Apr21

All Photos By Gail

If there were ever an art gallery that offered a fully immersive sensory experience reflective of the art it most expertly represents, that would be Last Rites Gallery. Hitting its stride as the perfect comforting /disquieting mutation of a Victorian Gothic sitting room and an abattoir, Last Rites showcases the best of contemporary Dark Pop, Surrealism and Horror Art like nobody’s business. Brooklyn’s Stephen Romano Gallery certainly mines a similar vein (and we are, of course, huge fans), but there is only one Last Rites. Also: there’s a tattoo parlor in the basement.

Octopus Chandelier by Adam Wallacavage

A while back, Last Rites escaped the impending urban sprawl of its former neighborhood — a windowless loft space in the West 30s (just inches from the West Side Highway) — and moved locations to a Hell’s Kitchen-adjacent street level storefront that transforms the gallery into clearly bisected realms of darkness and light. While the ground floor gallery space is flooded with natural light pouring in from floor to ceiling windows (quite advantageous, for an art gallery), the upstairs bar/lounge and basement level tattoo salon maintain the incredible vibe of fabulously seductive gloom. Let’s take a look.

Skull Wallpaper: Classeh!

Lots of room to relax and drink, blood or whatever.

Keep Out. You don’t have to tell me twice.

Cardboard Prop with Injury

So, the facelift was all for the best, and while a few wrinkles were smoothed over, Last Rites is still quite recognizable as the place we love to see scary art and bring straight friends to freak them out. And there sure is some good art there right now, in the form of William Basso’s exhibit of mixed media assemblages, Mise En Scene. Here are some of our favorite pieces from the show!

Edgar Allan Poe

Smile

Of his work, the artist offers, “The characters in my work exists in a distant, half-remembered place, where even Halloween can last forever.” We like it.

Tea Time

Collection of Models Used for The Series

Very Fun! Welcome back Last Rites! For detailed information on William Basso and the works in this exhibit, visit This Link. Or, you know, just go check it out in person.

William Basso’s Mise En Scene will be on Exhibit Through May 16th 2015 at Last Rites Gallery, Located at 325 West 38th Street (Between 8th and 9th Aves) in NYC.

Paul Insect, 2033: Original Works Created in 2014 at Allouche Gallery

Dec18

All Photos By Gail

Geoffrey and I were trying to figure out why the address of 115 Spring Street sounded so familiar, and yet neither one of us could recall having been to the Allouche Gallery, which resides at that address, prior to the Paul Insect exhibit, the opening reception of which we attended on Saturday night. Once we walked in the door, however, we recognized the space as having formerly been the home of Opera Gallery — which, who even knew that it had closed? Obviously, not us. RIP Opera Gallery. I do not miss you that much.

I like Paul Insect’s work a lot. To bring up a reference from Pop Culture, his unique portraits remind me a lot of the costumes and make-up designed, worn and made infamous by the late Leigh Bowery.

Hey, Free Wine!

And if you are going to reference another contemporary painter doing something similar, perhaps George Condo comes to mind as well, although I prefer Insect over Condo.

The exhibit’s press release simply states that “Paul Insect’s 2033, Original Works Created in 2014, features a series of striking new montage works on canvas and paper, projecting a world in which people want more, thrive to be the best and pretend to be who they are not.” I like that. Here are more of our favorites from the show.

This Diptych (above) and the trio (below) are a little bit different stylistically from the others.

This one has maybe a bit more of a collage feel to it. I love his use of bright colors.

This one reminds me of Me and Geoffrey when we go out looking at the Art.

Here is a bit more of an installation view. It really is a very nice space.

The Red in this is just remarkable, although it doesn’t translate in the photograph. It is one of my favorite pieces in the show for sure!

Go see this exhibit, because it is awesome.

Paul Insect, 2033 will be on Exhibit Through January 11th, 2015 at Allouche Gallery, Located at 115 Spring Street in Soho.

The Worley Gig

A Blog Of Neat Things!

Tag Archive | Portraits

Everyday Heroes NYC By Alexander Millar

Pop Culture Icons Get Dissected in Nychos’ IKON, at Jonathan LeVine Gallery

John Singer Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends at the Met, Closing October 4th!

Chuck Close, Red Yellow Blue at Pace Gallery

Preview: Russell Young’s Fame/Shame at Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, Reception September 17th

Last Rites Gallery Presents Transfigure Group Show

Last Rites Gallery Presents: Chet Zar’s The Demon Show

Pink Think of The Day: Elizabeth Taylor by Russell Young

William Basso Mise En Scene at Last Rites Gallery

Paul Insect, 2033: Original Works Created in 2014 at Allouche Gallery

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