Art from Gallery artists
F. SCOTT HESS
"Tracks in the Jungle"
"The Artist and His Daughter"
IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE
Los Angeles painter F. Scott Hess—best known for his figurative narratives—recently explored the genre of still life with a ten-work series which, taken together, tell the story of a murder mystery. In effect, Hess's objects become the true actors in this cinematic tale told on canvas. Titled The Hotel Vide, Hackett-Freedman Gallery premiered the series in February 2002.
On show concurrently at the Orange County Museum was Hess's monumental narrative series, The Hours of the Day. A project six years in the making, Hess had focused on creating twenty-four paintings, each based on an hour of the day, to explore familial interaction, identity, alienation, and loss against the backdrop of modern society. Said Leah Olman in a Los Angeles Times review of the show: "Throughout Hess' work, the physical seductions of life mask an underlying tenuousness and instability. His style of realism is as accessible as the world around us and as deeply coded."
Hess's use of skewed perspectives, close-up views of subjects, and elaborate detail and color belie a Baroque sensibility that fittingly mirrors the themes his paintings address. His startling and powerful technique and subject matter reflects the influence of Renaissance and Baroque masters such as Giotto, Bellini, and Rembrandt. Hess studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc. His work has been featured in national and international museum exhibitions and is represented in several collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Calif.; the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.; and the Norton Family Foundation, Santa Monica, Calif.
SKIP STEINWORTH
"Interior #9"
According to Skip Steinworth, his still lifes function much like landscapes. Steinworth’s use of a monochromic palette and the rigorous limitation of the types of forms presented—white flowers and simple gray objects—coalesce the individual pieces into a single form that exists within the larger space depicted.
Remarkably, Steinworth’s works maintain their delicate sensibility and evocative, subtle mood even though the artist literally hammers the paper with rock-hard graphite in order to render the rich array of gray tones.
Skip Steinworth received his MFA from St. Cloud University in Minnesota and has exhibited widely on both coasts. His work is represented in several important collections including The Richard and Jalane Davidson Collection, Chicago, IL and the Minneapolis Art Institute, Minneapolis, MN. Steinworth is the recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship (2003 and 1999) and has been a semifinalist for the Minnesota College of Art and Design McKnight Fellowship (2001, 2000, and 1999).
GUY DIEHL
"Seated Nude"
Over the past two decades, Guy Diehl has painted unusual still lifes reflecting his interest in the beauty of natural and man made forms. In recent years Diehl has turned his attention to the subject of art—literally, the reproduction of other artists' work in the form of postcards and coffee table books.
To San Francisco Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker, Diehl's "pictures balance tensions between the literal report of still life objects, the quotation of other artist's works and smoothly executed patterns of light, reflection and shadow."
Against smoothly painted surfaces, Diehl's compositions range from spare, calculated arrangements of a few objects to complex orchestrations of various elements. His use of dramatic, almost noir light and shadow adds to the mystery that permeates his paintings. Diehl's work is held in the collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Oakland Museum of California, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner, Visions, and Artweek, among others. Diehl's most recent exhibition at Hackett-Freedman Gallery was June 2001.
JAMES APONOVICH
"Side View of A Model"
"Still Life with Kumquats"
Set against beautiful Italianate landscapes, James Aponovich's stunning still lifes alternate between spare and complex compositions of opulent fruits, fabrics, flowers and vessels. Aponovich plays the background (almost a landscape stage set) against a riot of shapes, colors and patterns to create his brilliantly orchestrated still life compositions.
The complexity, skill and beauty of these tight tabletop arrangements create kaleidoscopic worlds within his canvases. Incorporating recurring elements culled from his home and studio, and a reflection of himself at work, Aponovich adds a personal touch to his paintings. His painstaking technique and distillation of order from disorder have earned him a national reputation.
Aponovich exhibits nationwide; recent group exhibitions have been held at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; the National Academy of Design, New York, New York; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work is in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; the Arkansas Art Institute, Little Rock, Arkansas; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, among others. The artist's first solo exhibition at Hackett-Freedman Gallery took place in April, 2001.
DIANA HOROWITZ
"Carroll Gardens"
"School Street"
New York artist Diana Horowitz paints intimate landscapes from direct observation. Her plein air views (of rural Vermont, New York City, and various areas of Italy) are loosely rendered, with the geometry of each form and brushstroke meshed with the light, color, and feel of the scene. Horowitz returns repeatedly to the site to complete each painting, usually limiting the size of her canvas or masonite panel to facilitate her excursions.
Horowitz's previous exhibitions have included works from Venice, Umbria, and Rome, where she lived and taught for several years.
In 1996, Horowitz was awarded the prestigious Rosenthal Award for Young Painters from the American Academy of Arts & Letters' Invitational Exhibition in New York City. She has shown at Hackett-Freedman Gallery since 1989 and at the Sazama Gallery in Chicago. Her most recent exhibited at the gallery was December 1996.
STEVEN GRABER
http://www.stevengraber.com
"Lincoln County"
Artist's Statement:
”I seek to convey an inner peace and harmony by creating a world made of light and mood - one that is timeless and deeply personal; where imagination is free and boundless; where the sanctity of the individual soul is cherished and preserved, untouched by outside judgment or desecrated by society's labels.”
COSTAS VAVAGIAKIS
"GIOIA I"
"GIOIA IV"
