Louis Recchia

"Modern Gallery, " Oil Painting

2016

"Holy Mathmatical Representation Batman!" (2024) by Warren W. Kessler is an original, handmade oil painting on aluminum panel that depicts an abstract still-life of a batman action f...

Andreas Claussen’s "Not Your Average Hero" (2023) is a striking oil painting that blends surrealism and contemporary realism. Measuring 39.4 x 59 inches, this compelling work depicts...

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...

Here we find a figure enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower from her Parisian apartment. We find croissants, coffee and flowers, staples of the French delights, as we feel the romant...