Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Unknown
Metropolis, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2022

2022

$2,800
£2,145.86
€2,466.29
CA$3,932.74
A$4,401.46
CHF 2,304.01
MX$53,469.75
NOK 29,255.03
SEK 27,607.12
DKK 18,402.86

About the Item

Metropolis, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2022 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush and polymer on linen Dimension: 18 x 18 inches About artist: Alex Blau’s geometric paintings draw from a variety of sources and have unexpected associations. By variously utilizing graphic languages associated with things like disposable consumer goods, computer generated architectures and unfolding mandalas, Blau’s work both points to abstraction’s open-ended possibility and highlights its incorporation into mass culture. Ellsworth Kelly, Jeff Koons, and cellophane snack packaging are just a few of the unlikely inspirations for Alex Blau’s glossy paintings. Her small-scale, soft – edged works are made by pouring layer upon layer of clear acrylic over alternating layers of airbrushed patterning. The built-up acrylic lacquer gives the surface of the painting depth; so that on close inspection we can distinguish the suspended layers of paint from each other and thereby recreate the artist’s process. Blau’s use of shaped canvases in combination with her process of essentially embedding paint in clear acrylic reinforces the sculptural quality of her paintings. This strategy of emphasizing the material aspects of the painting over the pictorial ones link her work to painters such as Kelly and Frank Stella, who downplay illusionary space and emphasize the physicality of the painting. The paintings are a surprising combination of durability and fragility. In the early stages of Blau’s process, sometimes the surfaces are damages or cracked, and the ensuing layers of acrylic lock-in the mishaps. In the end, the paintings become quite durable, but the scars remain, reminding us of their handmade origins like those of a custom-painted surfboard or an old mirror whose silver backing has begun to peel away. Blau is a fan of the aesthetics of snack packaging. One whole wall of her studio is covered in potato chip, cheese puff, and snack mix wrappers that friends have collected and mailed to her from around the globe. These colors, patterns, and designs are often starting points for her totally abstracts works. It is this shameless and gleeful meeting of high and low sources that characterizes figures like Kelly and Koons on an equal footing with snack wrappers. This is the democracy that we hope – a little reluctantly – will accompany the age of the Internet. Alex Blau has an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and works primarily in painting. Blau has had solo shows at several venues, including Frist Center, Firecat Projects in Chicago, Gallery Seomi in Seoul, Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, Kevin Bruk Gallery in Miami, Barbara Davis Gallery in Houston and the New Britain Museum of American Art. She currently teaches at Vanderbilt University and Austin Peay State University.
  • Creation Year:
    2022
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Orange, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2793216066252

More From This Seller

View All
Exampler, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2023
Located in Orange, CA
Exampler, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2023 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush and polymer on linen Dimension: 32 x 36 inches About artist: Alex Blau’...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Polymer

Time and Time Again, Airbrush and Polymer on Canvas Painting by Alex Blau, 2022
Located in Orange, CA
Time and Time Again, Airbrush and Polymer on Canvas Painting by Alex Blau, 2022 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush and Polymer on Canvas Dimension: 24 × 24 in (61 × 61 cm) Ab...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Polymer

Passage, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2022
Located in Orange, CA
Passage, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2022 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush and polymer on linen Dimension: 18 x 18 inches About artist: Alex Blau’s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Polymer

Sequence, Airbrush on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2024
Located in Orange, CA
Sequence, Airbrush on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2024 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush on linen Dimension: 16 × 20 in About artist: Alex Blau’s geometric paintings draw f...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen

Through the Clouds, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2023
Located in Orange, CA
Through the Clouds, Airbrush and Polymer on Linen Painting by Alex Blau, 2023 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush and polymer on linen Dimension: 16 x 16 inches About artist: ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Polymer

Sky Magnet, Airbrush and Polymer on Canvas Painting by Alex Blau, 2022
Located in Orange, CA
Sky Magnet, Airbrush and Polymer on Canvas Painting by Alex Blau, 2022 Additional information: Medium: Airbrush and polymer on canvas Dimension: 16 x 20 inches About artist: Alex B...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Polymer

You May Also Like

Microstructure, Painting, Acrylic on Metal
By Bjorn Bauer
Located in Yardley, PA
How is everything held together? The intricacies and dynamic interactions of molecular structures function in and around us, offering a timeless mystery to ponder. Paint as a materia...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Urbanity"abstract acrylic on canvas 162x130cm 2019
Located in Saint Pol de Léon, Bretagne
In his painting "Urbanité", Pierre Morquin plunges us into a vibrant, abstract universe. Bright colors, mainly yellow and green, blend and overlap, creating an effect of movement and...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic, Oil Pastel, Spray Paint

Dimension 28, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Hilary Winfield
Located in Yardley, PA
Dimension 28 is an original, modern art painting from the Geometric Abstract series. This one-of-a-kind painting was created with acrylic paint on gallery-wrapped canvas. It has a wi...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Jane Sangerman_HinderD88, Acrylic Spray Paint, Canvas, Abstraction, Found Object
By Jane Sangerman
Located in Darien, CT
Jane Sangerman lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She has a BFA from the University of New Mexico and an MFA from SUNY Buffalo. She has had one and two person shows in many citi...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Spray Paint, Acrylic, Canvas

Heavily Textured Acrylic Painting, Geometric Abstraction, Colorful, Canvas
By Aaron Karp
Located in St. Louis, MO
Heavily Textured Acrylic Painting, Geometric Abstraction, Colorful, Canvas Aaron Karp has exhibited his work extensively and has received recognition through a number of awards, gra...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Wire

Untitled Tati - contemporary modern abstract geometric painting on canvas
By Eliza Kopec
Located in Doetinchem, NL
Untitled Tati is a unique contemporary modern painting by renowned Polish-Dutch artist Eliza Kopec. The painting is a typical example of her preferred minimalist abstract geometric v...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Acrylic