Examine This Closely for a Moment Painting

Frank Korb was born in 1972 in West Allis, WI and grew up in the small town of Waterford, WI. Korb currently lives in Burlington, WI with his wife and daughter. A photo of Korb in his studio with the drawing stage of his painting "Crystal" which can be seen on his website www.frankkorb.com.PortraitsPeople are easily drawn to portraits and portraiture; it is something everyone can easily relate to. With contemporary and modern art, the face of the portrait hasnt always been clearly seen and twice in the last 20 years, was considered dead (Alex Katz, ARTnews). Korb's works are easily recognizable in shape and form as portraits - realistic in nature, but are approached in a technique that juxtaposes a variety of colored geometric and organic shapes to form the very specific and recognizable individual. Many portraits are done for specific commissions while those created for himself are created because of the relationships with the artist. The paintings are of people that are friends of the artist; people he enjoys surrounding himself with.AbstractionMy abstract works began as a means of exploring the emotional and physical events of life that are often unable to be seen. From my first experimental and reactionary paintings, I developed a strong body of works that revolve around the universally seen icons of the house, circle, square and grid. In many cases, the works are literally built upon a physical grid made up of collaged Bible pages. Moving away from this simple geometry of houses, circles and squares, I have also incorporated icons such as guns, birds, skulls as well as introducing text and numbers to the compositions. These additions have aided to the strength and direction of my works while still allowing them to deal with issues affecting life and the world. SIMPLE GEOMETRY Korb uses simple geometric shapes and recognizable forms that are easily read by the viewer. The work is meant to invite people to approach the works and investigate further the meaning beyond the simple geometry and forms.THE MATTER OF THE WORK Korb's works' subject matter ranges from life, faith, growth, family, deterioration and even death (to mention a few). The wonderful thing about using the universal images that "they allow me to let them stand for many different ideas throughout the various works."A STUDY OF FAITH Korb's works stem from a need for personal religious, spiritual and reflective exploration.