Kevin Sonmor

The Boys are Back

2019

Simon Casson’s paintings are singular statements of pure uniqueness. Their contemporary abstraction inflicts its imprint upon the often capriccio paintings, through predatory slabs o...

Simon Casson’s paintings are singular statements of pure uniqueness. Their contemporary abstraction inflicts its imprint upon the often capriccio paintings, through predatory slabs o...

Childhood, a reoccurring theme in Darlene Cole’s work, is represented by prepubescent girls and boys, engaged in some type of action. Without adult supervision, these activities confer on Cole’s children an adult-like aura, empowering them. The artist cites Neil Postman’s 1982 book about the decline in innocence in American culture The Disappearance of Childhood as a text that informs her work. In it, Postman argues that communications technology, such as the invention of the television and later, the Internet, contributed to children losing their innocence, thus transforming them into young adults. A source of inspiration for Cole are the works of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848. They studied nature attentively, employed vivid colours and depicted unconventional-looking women. Just like in Pre-Raphaelite works, the girls in Cole’s paintings embody enigma, distance, and beauty. The past, in general, is a great source of inspiration for the artist. Cole’s cottage, or ‘artist’s retreat’ as she calls it, was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Since she kept all the original furniture and linens intact, the cottage, on the side of a lake, seems to belong to the past. Nature, another omnipresent theme in Cole’s work, is in many works represented by flowers, such as pink David Austin roses...

Childhood, a reoccurring theme in Darlene Cole’s work, is represented by prepubescent girls and boys, engaged in some type of action. Without adult supervision, these activities confer on Cole’s children an adult-like aura, empowering them. The artist cites Neil Postman’s 1982 book about the decline in innocence in American culture The Disappearance of Childhood as a text that informs her work. In it, Postman argues that communications technology, such as the invention of the television and later, the Internet, contributed to children losing their innocence, thus transforming them into young adults. A source of inspiration for Cole are the works of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848. They studied nature attentively, employed vivid colours and depicted unconventional-looking women. Just like in Pre-Raphaelite works, the girls in Cole’s paintings embody enigma, distance, and beauty. The past, in general, is a great source of inspiration for the artist. Cole’s cottage, or ‘artist’s retreat’ as she calls it, was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Since she kept all the original furniture and linens intact, the cottage, on the side of a lake, seems to belong to the past. Nature, another omnipresent theme in Cole’s work, is in many works represented by flowers, such as pink David Austin roses...

David Mellen's work is not easily defined, vacillating between human flesh and metaphoric representation, the paintings beg you to look deeper and to consider their physical properties. Duchamp, de Kooning, Bacon, Giacometti, Rothko are all direct influences for Mellen, yet he can not be strictly categorized as a representational or an abstract artist. Mellen paints forms reminiscent of human bodies, building them one day at a time for the duration of several months. An endless process of addition and subtraction is at work as the loosely defined figures emerge in sharp contrast with precisely executed geometric backgrounds of neutral colors. The juxtaposition between exposed canvas, well-defined geometric background and a form as the subject of the painting is a motif that has followed Mellen’s work through the years. The entities in Mellen’s work reference actions rather than concrete characters. For example, in Descent (2020) a fall from grace...

Artist Commentary: This semi-abstract painting combines suggestions of canopies, windows, pyramids, figures, and patterns to evoke the mystery of travel. Keywords: semi-abstract int...

Please contact me with zip code for best shipping rates and timely delivery. This is a large, bold red abstract painting with green and dark blue accents. All hanging hardware is att...

David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...