Apichai Piromrak

"The Wheel, " Acrylic, Silicon and Gold Leaf on Embossed Handmade Paper on Wood

2000

This three-dimensional work incorporates an acrylic painting on canvas laid in a handmade red frame, adorned with scorched wooden planks, a stylized plaster heart, and an ice pick. The painting is a monochromatic depiction of icebergs protruding from the surface of water. While the imagery of the painting speaks to the visible outcome of artistic production, the frame and its adornments implore the viewer to consider the requisite materials necessary for creative actualization. Bert L. Long Jr., was self-taught artist, was born in 1940 in Texas, grew up the Houston’s historic Fifth Ward and received his formal education from UCLA. Following a career as a successful master chef, Long decided to devote himself entirely to art in the late 1970’s. He began to explore folk art and assemblage to create a unique body of work, attracting the attention of Jim Harithas, then Director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and artists John Alexander, Salvatore Scarpitta and James Surls. His life spanned an era of radical change in the American social climate, the influence of which can be seen clearly in his work. Long’s paintings and sculptures incorporate a high level of skill and sophisticated knowledge of art history, along with complex philosophical and social issues.  Long describes the philosophy behind his work as "a quest to help people diagnose their inner self," believing his art to be "the vehicle to help facilitate the process." “As artists we have the obligation to provide the world with art which communicates as truth. I believe that art has the power to heal our souls of their afflictions. I try to create art which helps to diagnose the prevalent conditions within our societies, hopefully providing an insightfulness which will help us all become brothers and sisters united in equality and compassion”                                       - Bert L. Long, Jr. The late Peter Marzio, former Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, said of Bert Long during the major retrospective of Long’s work at the museum: “Bert Long does not avert his gaze from that which is painful, but as [his artworks] testify, he also brings a spirit of joy and redemption to his art. We can all learn from this great artist.” Over Long’s 33-year career as a painter, sculptor, and photographer, he had several solo exhibitions at respected museums and was awarded many significant awards including the National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1987 and the prestigious international Prix de Rome fellowship in 1990. Other notable awards of Long’s include the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts Artist of the Year Award in 2009, the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Assistance Grant in 1997, the Houston Art League Texas Artist of the Year in 1990, the NEA Visual Artists Fellowship Grant, 1987 and the Bemis Foundation Residency in 1998. His work can be seen in over 100 private and public collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Art, the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Instituto de Bachillerato in Spain. With a recent solo exhibition at the Houston Museum of African American Culture and an exhibition overseas which is pending featuring his work, plus interest from several national museums, Bert L. Long Jr. continues to be recognized as an important African American artist throughout Texas, nationally and internationally. Bert L. Long, Jr. "Passion" 2012 Acrylic Paint, Wood Elements...

The Naga is the God of Water, which blesses the earth with rain for replenishment. Artist Details: Sompop Budtarad "The Water Naga" 1997 Acrylic, Gold Leaf, Mixed Media on Wood 63...

This work features an acrylic painting on canvas suspended between two wooden planks. The treatment of the painting appears visceral and rambunctious - congested with abstract and sy...

This precious work that is dedicated to Long’s first wife, Connie, who passed away from cancer, is an acrylic painting on canvas encapsulated in a custom, hand-made, plaster frame - characteristic of many classic Long works... Bert L. Long Jr., was self-taught artist, was born in 1940 in Texas, grew up the Houston’s historic Fifth Ward and received his formal education from UCLA. Following a career as a successful master chef, Long decided to devote himself entirely to art in the late 1970’s. He began to explore folk art and assemblage to create a unique body of work, attracting the attention of Jim Harithas, then Director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and artists John Alexander, Salvatore Scarpitta and James Surls. His life spanned an era of radical change in the American social climate, the influence of which can be seen clearly in his work. Long’s paintings and sculptures incorporate a high level of skill and sophisticated knowledge of art history, along with complex philosophical and social issues.  Long describes the philosophy behind his work as "a quest to help people diagnose their inner self," believing his art to be "the vehicle to help facilitate the process." “As artists we have the obligation to provide the world with art which communicates as truth. I believe that art has the power to heal our souls of their afflictions. I try to create art which helps to diagnose the prevalent conditions within our societies, hopefully providing an insightfulness which will help us all become brothers and sisters united in equality and compassion”                                       - Bert L. Long, Jr. The late Peter Marzio, former Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, said of Bert Long during the major retrospective of Long’s work at the museum: “Bert Long does not avert his gaze from that which is painful, but as [his artworks] testify, he also brings a spirit of joy and redemption to his art. We can all learn from this great artist.” Over Long’s 33-year career as a painter, sculptor, and photographer, he had several solo exhibitions at respected museums and was awarded many significant awards including the National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1987 and the prestigious international Prix de Rome fellowship in 1990. Other notable awards of Long’s include the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts Artist of the Year Award in 2009, the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Assistance Grant in 1997, the Houston Art League Texas Artist of the Year in 1990, the NEA Visual Artists Fellowship Grant, 1987 and the Bemis Foundation Residency in 1998. His work can be seen in over 100 private and public collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Art, the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Instituto de Bachillerato in Spain. With a recent solo exhibition at the Houston Museum of African American Culture and an exhibition overseas which is pending featuring his work, plus interest from several national museums, Bert L. Long Jr. continues to be recognized as an important African American artist throughout Texas, nationally and internationally. Bert L. Long, Jr. "Dear" 1989 Acrylic on Canvas with Painted Plaster Frame...

In the series of paintings titled “That Feeling When,” Aldrich expands the excess of materials to large figure paintings and small, overfilled sculptures. Aldrich uses thick materials that protrude from the surface, reminding the viewer that the paintings are not only physical objects in themselves, but also create the illusion of the picture. The work employs a risky excess of material that borders on uncontrollable; becoming metaphoric for barely controlled femininity, the attraction and repulsion of materialism, and the body pressing against constraints. The figures in the paintings are seen from behind or have turned away. The viewer is put in a place of questioning whether they are a voyeur or a co-viewer with the figure of something deeper in the picture plane. The full body paintings of young women based on Nancy Drew...

"Nanette (Back with Fence)" is a textural, contemporary figure painting by Knoxville based artist Eleanor Aldrich. Refusing engagement, the figure is turned away from the viewer. Further distance is created by a rugged representation of a chain link fence and layers of paint, enamel, and silicone. The only clue to the figure's gender is in the title, and the collision of industrial materials with a female representation provides a poignant conflict. Flashes of found paper provide hints of a t-shirt or other type of graphic clothing...

"Reader in a Lawn Chair" is part of the latest on-going series from Eleanor Aldrich. These "behind the lawn chair" vantage points provide Aldrich with the perfect subject matter to convey her mixed media approach. More info below: Eleanor Aldrich was born in Springerville, Arizona. A participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, she also holds an MFA in Painting & Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she currently lives. She earned her BFA in Painting & Drawing through the Academie Minerva (Groningen, the Netherlands) and Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. She was a participant in the Drawing Center’s first Open Sessions. Eleanor has had solo shows in Boston, Nashville, Knoxville, Flagstaff, AZ, and at the University of Alabama. Her work has been shown at Saltworks Gallery (Atlanta, GA), the Drawing Center (New York, NY), Grin (Providence, RI) and Ortega y Gasset (New York, NY). Her work was chosen for 1708 Gallery’s ‘FEED 2013’ (Richmond, VA). She has been awarded an Endowment for the Arts through the Whiteman Foundation, and the Herman E. Spivey Fellowship. Her work has been included in New American Paintings and on Artforum. Aldrich's work is textural and alchemical; she matches materials – often industrial sealants – and techniques to the subject matter they look like, thereby approaching a likeness without realistic rendering. She attributes her appreciation of mystery and the possibility of transformation in her work to her Catholic upbringing, in which materials were transformed and images held power over life. Her work intersects modernist painting, her own experiences, and the physicality of the body. Sometimes her work is about the application – paint is combed, piped, sprinkled and sprayed, reflecting traditional feminine work and crafts. Often the subject matter acts as a metaphor. The lines of a lawn chair seat serves as a veiled reference to the grid, and its breakdown – presumably by human weight – to an imagined encounter with the human body. *Make sure to use the "view in a room...

"Fat Back with Tattoos" is part of the latest on-going series from Eleanor Aldrich. These "behind the lawn chair" vantage points provide Aldrich with the perfect subject matter to convey her mixed media approach. More info below: Eleanor Aldrich was born in Springerville, Arizona. A participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, she also holds an MFA in Painting & Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she currently lives. She earned her BFA in Painting & Drawing through the Academie Minerva (Groningen, the Netherlands) and Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. She was a participant in the Drawing Center’s first Open Sessions. Eleanor has had solo shows in Boston, Nashville, Knoxville, Flagstaff, AZ, and at the University of Alabama. Her work has been shown at Saltworks Gallery (Atlanta, GA), the Drawing Center (New York, NY), Grin (Providence, RI) and Ortega y Gasset (New York, NY). Her work was chosen for 1708 Gallery’s ‘FEED 2013’ (Richmond, VA). She has been awarded an Endowment for the Arts through the Whiteman Foundation, and the Herman E. Spivey Fellowship. Her work has been included in New American Paintings and on Artforum. Aldrich's work is textural and alchemical; she matches materials – often industrial sealants – and techniques to the subject matter they look like, thereby approaching a likeness without realistic rendering. She attributes her appreciation of mystery and the possibility of transformation in her work to her Catholic upbringing, in which materials were transformed and images held power over life. Her work intersects modernist painting, her own experiences, and the physicality of the body. Sometimes her work is about the application – paint is combed, piped, sprinkled and sprayed, reflecting traditional feminine work and crafts. Often the subject matter acts as a metaphor. The lines of a lawn chair seat serves as a veiled reference to the grid, and its breakdown – presumably by human weight – to an imagined encounter with the human body. *Make sure to use the "view in a room...