Straight up no salt Print

Bars and restaurants are meeting places where people come together to relax but also to be on display themselves. Each bar, especially the selection of types and brands of liquor, reflects the tastes and identities of its patrons. The placement of liquors, wines and beers is often a hierarchal and contextual. A restaurant at a marina in Montauk will display more beer and rum than a bar on Wall Street. I have come to pay close attentions to such subtleties. But, the pleasure is about letting the artwork speak for the experience. The experience of the translucence of glass and colored liquid is primarily visual. The elusive nature of seeing something through something else, such as one bottle behind another, has a poetry all it ‘s own. The presence of artificial and natural light, reflected and direct light speaks to our varied experience. Labels play a role of affirming the individual within a group and asserting a singular identity. The label not only identifies the bottles contents but also a brand identity and even a subliminal emotional appeal. It may be a reminder of past experience, for better or for worse, or a promise of future pleasure. One of my favorites is Goslings Black Seal Rum. The label shows a trained seal balancing a barrel on its nose. I find it an appropriate metaphor for the liquor and any creative labor. These paintings invite the viewer to delight in the almost musical nature of the language of painting: the expressive play of the demonstrative mark, spacing that creates a sense of animation and complementary colors that counterpoint and accentuate each other. The hidden geometry of the painting like gravity holds everything in place. Deep shadows and bright highlights set the stage for the drama of saturated color.