Art At The Bistro Presents;
"You're Blocking My View"
New Paintings by Bradley Fox
Opening Reception Wed, Jan 13 4-6pm
Winding Brook Bistro
933 Rte. 100C, Johnson, VT
info: 802-635-9950
Show Dates Jan 8- Feb 28
Local Johnson Artist Bradley Fox is presenting new paintings from the studio dealing with how we perceive our landscape,the nature of landscape painting, and what we take for granted in the scenery around us.
Artist Statement:
" In this body of work I am concerned with how we perceive the landscape around us and how we think about Landscape painting as a genre.
Every landscape painter is confronted with some of the same concerns as they begin: What is it about this view that makes me want to paint it?, How do I take the medium beyond just a rendering of the scene?, How do I edit the information in front of me to create a painting out of it?, and how do I keep the work current? As I began to look for subject matter for these paintings I was struck by the amount of stuff we look past to see the environment around us. Do we perceive it as being in the way, being an integral part of our world, or do we edit it out to see the beauty of the landscape. As I looked more and more around me I realized this was forming the question central to this body of landscape paintings. The closer I looked, the more I realized there is a tension between the stuff we pass by everyday and take for granted, and the place where it exists. This also grounds each view in its’ moment, making it contemporary for the time it was painted.
As oil painting is my chosen medium, there is always the concern of handling the paint in a way that keeps the viewer on the surface of the canvas “in the paint” being aware of the way the mark moves you over the canvas. I am asking the viewer to consider the surface as well as going into the depicted scene. Does this quality render the scene as a mute point to the painting or does it bring a validity to the landscape genre verses abstraction?
Concurrently I was investigating how much detail I take for granted in the most common view of my day, and asking You to think of that in your own day, as you view the paintings. In October, I set out to paint the view outside my studio window at dawn everyday. The result is the small paintings in the show which show just how different and spectacular nature can be if we just take the time to look. " - Bradley Fox
