Tag: impasto

Gerald Lovell at PPOW Gallery

Tourist photos of Cala Deia in Mallorca tend to focus on the picturesque geometries of limestone houses rising on the island’s hills.  New York-based painter Gerald Lovell’s on-the-ground version of the age-old village at PPOW Gallery instead ushers viewers up a hilly street.  Embraced between a rocky outcrop on the right and the warm tan colors of the buildings on the left, greenery on one side and characteristic green shutters on the other, a pedestrian might feel the upward pull of the narrow lane toward more discoveries. Lovell’s current solo show features paintings of his friends as well as his recent travels and, he explains, celebrates the life he is getting to live.  (On view in Tribeca through March 9th).

Gerald Lovell, Portals (Cala Deia), oil on pastel, 60 x 48 inches, 2024.

Li Songsong at Pace Gallery

Shortly after his grandfather died, Beijing-based artist Li Songsong began painting this portrait of him absorbed in a personal moment.  Using a thick oil painting technique that obscures detail, the artist explains that he nevertheless captured the essence of the man.  The takeaway for the artist was to observe how painting can embody truths that the artist himself may not even want to acknowledge.  (On view at Pace Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 21st).

Li Songsong, Civil Rather Than Military, oil on canvas, 82 11/16” x 8’ 6 3/8”, 2018.

Caroline Larsen at The Hole NYC

Caroline Larsen’s paintings are a deliberate tour-de-force of low-brow associations, resembling latch-hook or embroidery, created by squeezing oil paint through pastry bags and mounted on cheap wall coverings. Seemingly designed to test whether there’s any fertile ground left in the fine art vs kitsch debate, they deliberately elude the kind of transcendence that this majestic mountainscape might suggest. (At The Hole NYC through July 24th).

Caroline Larsen, Diamond Back, oil on canvas over board, 37 x 47 inches, 2016.
Caroline Larsen, Diamond Back, oil on canvas over board, 37 x 47 inches, 2016.

Vanessa Prager at The Hole NYC

In person, the subjects of LA painter Vanessa Prager’s heavily painted portraits only faintly emerge from their textured backgrounds; in photos, they materialize more readily. The implications of being more visible on a screen aren’t lost on Prager, who has installed peep-holes through out the gallery to carry on a conversation about the absence and presence of images today. (At The Hole NYC on the Lower East Side through Feb 29th).

Vanessa Prager, Night Gaze, oil on panel, 48 x 48 inches, 2016.
Vanessa Prager, Night Gaze, oil on panel, 48 x 48 inches, 2016.