Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 20

Joel Handorff
Painting of bouquet of flowers on fabric: 'Rags II'

2018

$4,250
£3,215.42
€3,711.09
CA$5,936.07
A$6,599.77
CHF 3,454.58
MX$80,944.03
NOK 43,985.58
SEK 41,527.60
DKK 27,693.37
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers becomes the subject—they bring to mind all of the flowers I have ever seen and all the ones I have seen in great works of art. They are a reflection, a kind of magic mirror, defying traditional paintings of flowers.’ As Handorff explains, “the Magic Mirror is about creating a style that is seen and not seen. These new paintings explore aspects of transparency. The works are created with embroidered templates, which are then placed upon materials of varying degrees of opacity and translucence. Paint is pounded onto the surface created by these templates, generating multiple images that reflect the original.” The resulting images are reflections of themselves: ghost images. The pieces are displayed in idiosyncratic fashion, sometimes breaking from the wall. In a way, they are performances in action. For Handorff, the idea of transparency in his work goes back to earlier pieces that were painted on the backs of Plexiglas sheets, in other words, the images were painted in reverse. The idea of Magic Mirror is connected to a sense of community in various ways. First of all, it is an allegory of the East Village scene of the 80s, a rich period of experimentation and multiple styles that all but disappeared soon after it began…a sort of vanishing world, which created a legacy. Also, the term Magic Mirror emerged as a moniker during spontaneous drawing sessions in Handorff’s apartment. Artist friends first started drawing portraits of each other, to later incorporate writing into the pictures, and eventually leading to two or more friends drawing and painting on the same work. The output of these get-togethers, documented on social media and archived in sketchbooks at Handorff’s apartment, created a body of work that in retrospect reveals a common meshing and influence of artist friends on each other. For Handorff in particular, these explorations transformed his work and also offered the added advantage of perceiving himself as an artist in a novel way—one who is not competitive or concerned with authorship. This makes the work transcendental, giving the artist the freedom to create a body of work that explores the magical aspect of artmaking under the umbrella of artistic community, giving the confidence and freedom of a deeper sense of art. The process for these paints started in the drawing sessions, where the collaborative experience fed the dynamism of the pieces in the studio. The dream flowers melt and fold into a mysterious space. If you look at these works, at the materials themselves, some emerge while others disappear. The important part of these works is what is not seen…rather what is suggested within the natural world of flowers. Surfaces mix and match with overlays. In the end, they are not representations of flowers per se, but vessels of the essence of a flower in itself. The Magic Mirror is about transcendence, a sort of Plato’s cave in which the shadows are indicators of a greater reality. Joel Handorff is a New York-based artist who has exhibited widely and is included in many collections including the Weisman Art Museum. In the 1980s he participated in the East Village art scene as artist, curator, and gallerist, running Dramatis Personae. He has exhibited at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery, Harm Bouckaert Gallery, and MoMA PS1. His work has been reviewed by Vivien Raynor of the New York Times and Theodore Wolff of the Christian Science Monitor. In 2012, he received a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. His work was exhibited at the Leslie-Lohman Museum’s seminal Interface show, which was curated by Walter Cessna, as well as the Jonathan Weinberg-curated Painting to Survive show at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition.
  • Creator:
  • Creation Year:
    2018
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 26 in (66.04 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: JH/RagsII1stDibs: LU42234524772

More From This Seller

View All
Textile Painting of flowers: 'Rags I'
By Joel Handorff
Located in New York, NY
‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers becomes the subject—they bring to mind all of the flowers I have ever seen and all the ones I have seen in great works of art. They are a reflection, a kind of magic mirror, defying traditional paintings of flowers...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Textile, Cotton, Acrylic

Painting of bouquet of flowers on fabric and rice paper: 'Dream Bouquet II'
By Joel Handorff
Located in New York, NY
‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers become...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Fabric, Rice Paper

Painting of bouquet of flowers on fabric: 'Blue Ocean'
By Joel Handorff
Located in New York, NY
‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers become...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Fabric, Acrylic

Painting of bouquet of flowers on Canvas: 'Spring'
By Joel Handorff
Located in New York, NY
‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers become...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Fabric, Acrylic

Painting of bouquet of flowers on linen: 'Romanticism'
By Joel Handorff
Located in New York, NY
‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers become...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Large textile painting of bouquet of flowers: 'Graffiti Mystery'
By Joel Handorff
Located in New York, NY
‘Starting with a drawing of "real" flowers, I create layers of thinly veiled surfaces. They become abstracted through the process of multiple printings. The essence of flowers become...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Textile, Cotton, Muslin

You May Also Like

Summer Floral 1, Painting, Acrylic on Paper
By Christel Haag
Located in Yardley, PA
"Summer Floral 1" is a vibrant colorful painting on paper. It's full of movement and dynamism. It is inspired by the beautiful flowers in the summer time. The painting must be fr...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Every Bloom #5" Colorful burst of abstracted, textured flowers in a bouquet
Located in Edgartown, MA
"I am a Gippsland-based artist, whose creative process is ever-evolving, with the constant being my subject matter. Native Australian flora and fauna are commonly depicted in my work...
Category

2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Enamel

Flower tapestry 4
By Perry Burns
Located in Fairfield, CT
Oil on canvas
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Flowers7, bold composition, textural collage elements
By C. Dimitri
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Abstract sculptural still-life: a pot of flowers. Mixed media on canvas. Neutral tones, cheerful simplicity, boldly poetic
Category

2010s Abstract Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, House Paint, Oil, Acrylic

Floral Bouquet (Lively Still Life Oil Painting of Flowers on Canvas)
By Dale Payson
Located in Hudson, NY
Oil painting on canvas, unframed 32 x 27 inches This still life oil painting of a bouquet of vibrant lilies, roses and irises was painted by Hudson Valley-based artist Dale Payson. The range of canary and pastel yellows, emerald green, beige and burnt umber hues that span the canvas are complimented by Payson's skillfully executed impasto technique. Payson captures the essence of her subject matter and abstracts it in the same stroke, rendering each painting somewhere between representation and interpretation. About the artist: Payson studied extensively at the School of Visual Arts in New York and eventually taught at this prestigious institution. Before painting became her sole ambition, she was a freelance book illustrator and has more than 25 books to her credit. Dale Payson also studied under Robert...
Category

2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Flowers For Brueghel", Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By June Johnson
Located in Yardley, PA
Floral abstraction :: Painting :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :: Signed: Yes :: Signature Loc...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic