Bruce Adams

Sampson and Dahlia

2010

Bruce Adams is best known as a conceptually based figurative painter who references various (often historical) painting styles. In exploring the act of painting, Adams peels back the layers of meaning inherent in making and viewing art. Artist Statement: Though we don’t generally think about it, thirteenth-century religious art actually reflects medieval European perceptions of events that occurred in the ancient Middle East. In the Divine Beauty project I filter sacred iconography through the secular lens of today’s societal perceptions by placing found commercial fashion imagery (from magazines and other sources) in the context of painted religious narratives, producing a clash of ideas that throw both sources into question. Like many Western New Yorkers, I was raised Catholic. I attended a Catholic elementary school, went to church every day. While the indoctrination didn’t last beyond childhood, it did instill a lifelong affinity for the visual traditions of sacred art. But, as the recent economic meltdown has made apparent, conspicuous global consumption has replaced western religion today as the favored path to personal fulfillment. Fashion models serve as the new icons...

An original egg tempera and gold leaf on board by American female conceptual contemporary artist Rosemary Lyons. What makes an artist a failure? While strolling through the Metropolitan I was viewing the wing piece of a more extensive altar and observed words etched into the golden grounds. This had a profound resonance with me because of my fascination and utilization of words in all of my work. Next I visited the Cloisters and stood transfixed in front of Robert Campion’s “Annunciation” Of particular interest was the lovely white lily that indicates Mary’s purity. On this same sojourn I witnessed the line out the door and around the block of people waiting to get into a contemporary artist’s retrospective. Is that success? My response began with one painting of lilies...

A contemporary realist oil painting by American artist A.J. Fries. Artist’s Statement: My paintings are less about the images or scenes that they depict and more about my state o...

Amanda Besl Petrichor, 2025 Oil on panel Signed on reverse Vibrant yet quietly contemplative, Petrichor by Amanda Besl showcases the artist’s signature fusion of botanical surrealis...

This work is a unique piece. It is a gilded oil painting on linen canvas with 22 carat gold leaf. CS Art comprises of two artists, one French, the other Norwegian. They have been pa...

Exploring the purity of the feminine form and the drama of French haute couture, artist Cindy Shaoul creates a dialogue between the figurative and the abstract. Her spirited composit...

Oil and gold leaf on canvas For centuries, artisans and artists have turned to gold leaf as a way to make their creations shimmer and shine. Also many contemporary artists continue ...

Oil, acrylic polymers, grout, gold leaf, on shaped canvas.