Somewhat Real

Victor Wang, Silent Reflection. Oil and collage on canvas, 52 x 50”. 2009.

Victor Wang, Inner Glow. Oil and collage on canvas, 53 x 50”. 2008.

Not only do these paintings have rich colors and textures, but they also have a deeper significance. The artist, who lived in China during the Cultural Revolution, uses sunflowers to signify the encouraged worship of Mao (people were supposed to follow him like sunflowers followed the sun), as well a reminder of his own time working in the corn and sunflower fields in a labor camp. The rich texture results from collages of figures from China’s Tang Dynasty.

Sara Zin, Intention I. Oil on Canvas, 34 x 36”.

Sara Zin, Intention II. Oil on Canvas, 24 x 34”.

Sara Zin, Intention III. Oil on Canvas, 24 x 34”.

Sara Zin, Intention VI. Oil on Canvas, 24 x 36”.

Sara Zin, Intention VII. Oil on Canvas, 24 x 34”.

Sara Zin, Intention VIII. Oil on Canvas, 24 x 34”.

If you pay attention to the blocks of skin color, you realize that the realistic portraits are more abstracted/pixelated than they appear.

Margarita Georgiadis, The Cloud Seed. Oil on linen, 105 x 105cm. 2012.

Margarita Georgiadis, Pendulum. Oil on linen, 105 x 105cm. 2012.

Margarita Georgiadis, Convulsive Beauty. Oil on canvas, 46 x 46cm. 2012.

Margarita Georgiadis, Avian II. Oil on board, 20 x 20cm. 2012.

These are from a series titled “Avian,” merging intense human and bird-like elements.

Theodora Allen, Perform II. Oil on canvas, 12 x 16”. 2012.

Theodora Allen, Perform III. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20”. 2012.

These paintings’ ghostly glow, overlapping shapes, and half-empty compositions are haunting.

Ian Francis, A Jellyfish Appears at the Window of a Hotel Bar. Mixed media on canvas, 50 x 72”. 2010.

Ian Francis, Three or Four People Talk at a Bar. Mixed media on canvas, 42 x 60”. 2010.

Even though it may be hard to tell what’s going on, I like these works because they use abstract geometric shapes to create depth, they show an impressive amount of experimentation, and they know when further detail is unnecessary.

Elena Zolotnitsky, Botticelli Revisited. Oil, gold leaf and silk on paper, 16 x 14”.

Elena Zolotnitsky, Under. Oil on paper, 16 x 14”.

The artist says she wants to “probe deeply into the mystery of the medium itself,” using layers and nontraditional materials to push the boundaries of the medium of painting.

Joshua Flint, Rotation. Oil on panel, 24 x 12”.

Joshua Flint, This Isn’t The Whole Story. Oil on panel, 24 x 12”.

Joshua Flint, Our Maps Are Drawn. Oils, 30 x 40”.

The colors, angles, and expressive touches take “boring” everyday scenes and make them tell interesting stories.

Harriet White, 2000 Calorie. Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm.

Harriet White, Lawless. Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm.

Harriet White, Revolution. Oil on canvas, 120 x 100 cm.

Harriet White, Glacier. Oil on board, 103 x 38.5 cm.

Harriet White, Infallible. Oil on board, 103 x 38 cm.

The abstracted sparkles of these painting, which bring to mind “bokeh” photography, show glamor to be beautiful but pretty much insubstantial.