LOOK INTO MY OWL

Traditionally, the art world “shuts down” for the Summer. It is a broad market perspective that sends the art collector for a well deserved ocean respite. It’s also a good time for art world transitions.

I’ve been involved in several off-season moves that will intensify my career as artist, dealer and art writer. New York City is on the very near horizon and I should be in position soon to conduct more studio visits, museum previews and exhibition reviews.

The Summer has also brought about the founding of my personal artist website. I’m offering up a new signed and numbered, archival, limited edition pigment print seven days a week. All of my artistic pursuits are updated daily on the site. Check in regularly to examine progress on my portfolio, ongoing projects and store. Please sign up here to receive a weekly digest via email highlighting all of the action.

Scroll down for a small selection of my work from this year. Two prints, a pair of photographs, a couple of projects, some paintings and now, yes, I have been branded with my own logo.

Scott Lickstein, Spectrum Sipper, archival pigment print on 300 gsm, 100% cotton, acid & lignin free paper, 20.25 x 17 inches, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, The Hawk, archival pigment print on 300 gsm, 100% cotton, acid & lignin free paper, 17 x 17 inches, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, Life and Death in the Forest, c-print, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, Mystics and Tides 014, c-print, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, When I’m Gone 036, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, When I’m Gone 044, 2011.

Scott Lickstein with Ian Gamache, Let’s Play Hostage, 2011.

Scott Lickstein with Ian Gamache, Boring Summer Movie, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, Speechless, 2011.

Scott Lickstein, Moonwolf, 2011.

“I Am Still What I Wanted to Be,” is the first solo show in the U.S. for Rik Meijers. Assemblage paintings and drawings make up this special exhibit at Friedman Benda in NYC. The artist is also currently exhibiting at the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Rik Meijers, Couple, mixed media on canvas, 95 x 71″, 2006.

Rik Meijers is a well known musician in his native country. His nightly encounters with the nightlife have informed the content of these densely crafted character studies.

Rik Meijers, Trio, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 110″, 2004.

Meijers has taken cues over the years from pulp realist writers like Celine and Bukowski. This narrow alley is strewn with the waste of the life. It is this material that is literally assembled in bas relief engaging with the paint the swirling nostalgia of bottle caps, tar, glitter and glass.

Rik Meijers, Man of Wounds, mixed media on canvas, 106 x 75″, 2006.

Rik Meijers
I Am Still What I Wanted to Be
21 April – 28 May 2011
Friedman Benda
NYC

Thomas Williams Fine Art is celebrating the opening of their new gallery location with an exhibit of paintings from Lars Elling. “Oppenheimer’s Garden” is on display now through the end of April, contact the gallery for details.

Lars Elling, Initiation, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 67 x 67″, 2010.

Lars Elling paints with egg tempera, an ancient method that involves the suspension of raw pigment in egg yolk and other fluids. The slick feel of the paint dries quickly into a sticky skim and further seals into a very durable, long lasting surface. It’s a technique that is barely taught in schools today because tempera has almost entirely been replaced by oil paint. The medium allows for a precise control over color with light entering deep into the surface illuminating the minuscule specs of powdered pigment. The effect of the approach and the facility of the artist is easily spotted even in these digitized images.

Lars Elling, Mastermind, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 39 x 39″, 2010.

The fabricated world of Lars Elling has been Frankensteined from opposing references that evoke feelings of nostalgic comfort and masochistic stage. Elling turns the paintings as he works, an action that further confuses the physics of his scenes and forces deliberation over form on an abstract level. The strange and beautiful tableau invites and repels dependent largely on the emotional baggage that the viewer has brought to the gallery.

Lars Elling, Mother’s Day, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 67 x 67″, 2010.

Lars Elling
16 March – 28 April 2011
Thomas Williams Fine Art
London