Jesse Aldana

The Rollercoaster, Oil Painting

2019

Artist Comments
A calm evening glow settles on Santa Monica's curving shore and pier in the distance. A man strolls among the palms while another figure looks out on the scene from the balcony at far right. Jesse says he worked to build a relationship between the two people for viewers to expand upon the narrative. Fine brushwork in the gradient sky and small details of the scene, bringing to mind Robert Bechtle's portrayals of everyday life in California.

About the Artist
California artist Jesse Aldana uses the ritual of sunrise and sunset to capture the spirit of the west. Using a hybrid of realist brushwork and an almost surreal absence of humans, Jesse documents residential neighborhoods, main thoroughfares and coastal scenes across the great city of Los Angeles. Reminiscent of Ed Ruscha, Jesse’s work acts as both a record of the current landscape as well as a metaphor for the openness and sense of opportunity that continually draw settlers to the west coast. Jesse says of California, “the sky is an overwhelming presence.” He frames his big sky compositions with narrow palm trees and low-slung buildings at the periphery of the canvas to illustrate the scale of the scene. In doing so, the viewer can begin to appreciate the sentiment of the final frontier. Jesse works from a home studio in Los Angeles using photographs that he takes of the surrounding area as source material. He holds a BA from Brown University and an MFA from The New York Academy of Art. He regularly exhibits at the Beverly Hills Art Show.

Words that describe this painting: sunset, pier, beach, landscape, palm trees, realism, Santa Monica, California, seascape, Robert Bechtle, seascape, realism, representational, oil painting, blue

The Rollercoaster
Jesse Aldana
Oil painting on stretched canvas
Finished white edges
Ready to hang
One-of-a-kind
Signed on front
2019
30 in. h x 40 in. w x 1 in. d
4 lbs. 4 oz.