If you are an emerging artist living in the Chicago area, take a few minutes and apply for the 2016 Luminarts Visual Arts Fellowship Competition. It is free to submit and the awards are outstanding. As a 2015 Luminarts Fellow, I can tell you this is an origination you want to be a part of. Be sure to submit before the March 18th deadline.
1 Comment
I'm very grateful to be showing in this group show among some of Chicago's best painters. Chicago Paints is an exhibition featuring fresh paintings straight from the studios of selected artists representing the energetic and pluralistic aesthetic that characterizes the vibrant cultural metropolis. Critical to modern and contemporary art, the movements and ideas that characterize the innovation of Chicago painters continues with a new generation of influential artists. The opening day to view the show will be January 19th, but the artist reception will be Friday, January 29nd from 5-8 pm and will feature many of Chicago's finest painters. Check out this impressive list of artists! Steve Carrelli, William Conger, Chris Cosnowski, Michael Hedges, Amanda Joseph, Vesna Jovanovic, Chris Kahler, Louise Lebourgoeis, Judy Ledgerwood, Riva Lerher, Tim Lowly, Elsa Munoz, Sabina Ott, Brian Ritchard, Darrell Roberts, Melody Saraniti, Geoff Smalley, Diana Sudyka, Kyle Surges, Frank Trankina, Amanda Williams, Bernard Williams, Vidvuds Zviedris For more info, visit Chicago Paints Exhibition In this group show, I will be displaying "Remembering Iwo Jima". You can see the painting in the far left of the fourth image below. Here is the 3rd and final knot in this painting. This time you can see a more step by step process in these images. There is more to this knot than what I have painted here - I might come back later and work on it some more. 2015 was my third year out of art school and so far the most exciting. I participated in many shows, won a few awards, lined up 3 commission jobs, and sold quite a bit. A fine art career is a tough way to make a living. This is my first year really seeing my hard work payoff, I'm very grateful. In addition to, I even got engaged to my girlfriend of nearly ten years! I just hope 2016 can compete. Here are some WIP photos of one of my commission. I'm working on the wood knots here by first laying down a couch of medium and then painting into it . Its sort of like a semi transparent/opaque glaze. After a successful outing earlier this year at Expo Chicago, I have been commissioned to paint 3 new works. The interesting part about these commissions are 2 of them will be copies of paintings I did a couple years ago. The first one is another daredevils fishing lure piece. A client from McCormick gallery missed out on the original painting that sold just a few weeks before. So he asked if I would be willing to re-paint it. This idea hasn't crossed my mind before, but there isn't any reason why it cannot be done. I'm just excited that there are folks out there who consider my ideas worth reproducing. I've never thought my work would translate well into print form because, well they already kind-of look like photos - so what's the point? Part of the excitement with hyperrealism painting is being able to call the finished piece a painting. I feel this genre of art doesn't function well as a print unless the artist is well known such as someone like William Harnett or John Peto. What I'm saying is, I doubt I'm print worthy yet. Anyway, here is the first reproduction, which is completed. The second commission is another cap gun painting, "Faithful Nichols". The original sold at a competition in Cincinnati, but a client through the gallery saw it online and was disappointed it was gone. They contacted me and asked if it was possible to paint another one. So here is the work in progress of it. Lastly, the third commission is a surprise gift, so the details will remain vague. It will be a traditional trompe l'oeil shadow box painting with interesting subject matter. Sorry, no photos of this one until it is finished.
Here is a full video with all the New 2015 Luminarts Fellows
My two listings on the Paddle 8 auction site are now live. Paddle 8 is an online auction house that deals exclusively with fine art. Together with the Luminarts Foundation, I will be auctioning "Walked in Lincoln's Steps" and "Roasted Marshmallow".
I entered the rations painting into the ArtSlant Prize Competition. It looks like it has made it's way through the first round of jurying, but so far it hasn't really won anything. Since this is strictly an online competition, I'm a little doubtful that my painting will go any farther... but who knows? From here, each Showcase Winner will go before our Gallery Panel for review and judging over the next week. Gallerists will vote the top 10 Juried Select Winners for the 6th 2015 ArtSlant Prize Showcase. These winning artists will be eligible for the final ArtSlant Prize Competition at the end of our Showcase VII Series. *Update 10/29/15 - Just as I thought, my painting did not advance to the next level of jurying. Oh well, that's how it goes. You win some, you lose many.
To add to my trompe l'oeil record collection, I'll be painting another classic 78 record. 78 rpm records predate long play (LP), whole album vinyl which play at 33 rpm. A 78 has only one song per side, making them 'singles' and are made of a harder shellac material - these are the records you'll see famously being smashed and shattered in old Looney Tunes cartoons. This next record painting will be Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode", pressed on the great Chicago blues label, Chess Records. As you can see below I have a decent start on it, but no real detail yet. The one problem I face with this record and label is the lack of graphics on it's record sleeve. Usually record labels have their brand name and logo printed on the sleeve such as RCA Victor dog and phonograph. I really like seeing vintage advertising and I feel it's a great addition to this type of painting. I assume Chess never bothered to print a sleeve with their logo for their 78s because I cannot find one anywhere. They have nice 45 rpm record sleeves with graphics, but nothing for the 78s - they are all blank. Luckily, I have an idea. "Johnny B. Goode" was so influential that NASA included it in the Golden Record featuring the sounds of earth on the Voyager space missions in 1977. Currently, out beyond our solar system there is "Johnny B. Goode" among other music and sounds traveling and waiting for other intelligent life to discover. On this Golden Record there is a cover with diagrams demonstrating on how to play the record and how it works, as well as the location of Earth. Since a plain, graphic-less record sleeve lacks interest, I'm going to invent my own sleeve using the diagrams from the Golden Record. The second image below is what my sleeve for the painting will look like. I think this is the extra bit of appeal I'm looking for with this piece. Check out a short video I made featuring Glenn Miller's "In the Mood". For HD, play the video, then click the settings button on the bottom right and set it to 1080p. |
Kyle Surges's Oil Painting Blog
Keep up to date with the RSS Feed.
Archives
March 2021
This website is 100% safe. The ads you see here are simply to help fund this site. They are clean, non-popup ads provided by Google. If an ad is clicked, you will be directed to another safe website and Google will pay me a few cents. Your support is greatly appreciated.
|