Ol' West Painting

Abstraction and realism are combined in these paintings. These methods share a common ability to evoke space and texture. These paintings are composed so that visual densities – textural knots – move and shift across the surface. Within this general framework, personal experiences – objects and places that hold special meaning – are rendered in detail. It’s a form of devotion. I was liberated by the resurgence of representational painting during the years of the East Village art scene in New York in the late 1970s having previously focused on minimal canvases. Standard realism did not seem relevant to the time and place, nor were expressionistic effects compelling. Neo-geo did seem attractive but also limiting. Postmodern juxtapositions were very intriguing. Subsequently, I broke the line between realism and abstraction. This objectivity allowed me to write a book, Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques, that strengthened an impulse to integrate abstract painting concepts with realism. Traditional oil painting on canvas or panel. Sometimes the abstract element is first on the canvas followed by realism. Sometimes a representational idea is first laid down with abstract overlays. The important challenge is to have these visual languages speak to each other – to resonate- and the realist area is calling to the abstract for assurance.