Matthew Cook

Memento Vivere - Original Oil Painting Human Skull in 17th Century Dutch Style

2020

A study for a series of larger paintings based on motion capture studios, this painting combines classic technique with modern sensibility. Here the seated model leans against an antiquated iMac. Upon closer examination, the preparatory sketch lines are visible on the model's feet and her forearm. Unfinished works were first seen during the Renaissance with Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Donatello. It became fashionable to leave works incomplete, so much so, that it became an aesthetic term 'non-finito'. Andrew S. Conklin Kelsey Seated, Arm with iMac oil on panel 12h x 17w in 30.48h x 43.18w cm ACK011 Motion Capture Paintings, Chicago My recent painting series describes the reality of motion capture environments by showing the interplay between female athletes and male technicians. These paintings are meant to explore conventions of female representation in Western figurative art and to contrast this past practice with the contemporary imagery of that subject via computer-based image technology. This project was instigated by a number of things: first, by my abiding interest in depicting the human form in paint, as I find its versatility in a design, its invitation to empathy, and its difficulty, to be something worth attempting to depict with success. In addition, my curiosity regarding the new ways to depict the form using electronic technology seem to challenge to the traditional methods I rely upon, and I wanted to comment on the similarities and differences between the studios of the painters and the technicians. In this way, I aim to continue my investigation into what I see as the contrasting quality of human nature, and symbolically represent opposites such as mind and body, analog and digital, realism and idealism, terrestrial and the transcendent. Andrew S. Conklin is a figurative painter. He holds an MFA from the Academy of Art University, and studied painting at the National Academy of Design in New York City with Harvey Dinnerstein...

While still life painting can be dated back to the Ancient Egyptians, this still life takes on a modern theme. A crystal decanter and whiskey glass are set upon a piece of fraying tapestry. The curiosity comes when the viewer takes a closer look to discover a bee has flown in and is perched precariously on the neck of the decanter. This piece is framed in a heavy wooden frame with a gold insert. The framed dimensions are H 14.5 x W 16.5 inches. Matthew Cook...

Depictions of dead birds have a long and rich history in Western Art having been used as a subject matter by artists from Albrecht Durer to Pablo Picasso. The Golden Age of Dutch Painting brought an iconic rise to still-life painting. Much like decadent, ripe fruit and extravagant, sumptuous floral arrangements, these taxadermied birds were transformed into stunning examinations of color, light and texture. Here, artist Tina Figarelli...

Tina Figarelli is a classically trained artist whose favorite subject matter in her artwork is ideas with a strong narrative. Tina leaves the viewer hin...

Mark Bowers- Artist Statement With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt more and more like something I have always known. Something I could easily apply, stage, and manipulate as a diary. My work consists of small-scale highly detailed landscape paintings. They are inspired by the comfort, trepidation, and beauty found in the mundane Chicago Suburbs. I combine nature, decorative house wares, municipal structures, and personal artifacts to hint at current life and future implications in the orchestration of these elements. Each work in the series is a portrait of a search for markers on a journey, an attempt to learn from what is palpable and to appreciate the intangible. The paintings are meant to suggest the truth in the un-idealized moment--the actual truth only exists off the edges of my canvas, off stage, and in the experience of the viewer. Painting the objects in these compositions is like positioning characters on stage in a play, each adding to the dramatization Mark Bowers Little Blue Houses oil on panel 15h x 30w in 38.10h x 76.20w cm MJB008 Mark Bowers b. 1977 St. Joseph, MI Exhibitions 2013 American Painting Today: Physical and Visceral, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI 2012 Fort Wayne Art Museum, Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne, IN Rockford Art Museum Midwestern Biennial, Rockford, IL Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2009 Art Chicago, Represented by Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2007 Beverly Arts Center Biennial, Chicago, IL Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2005 Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2003 Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 2001 The Box Factory Gallery, St. Joseph, MI 2000 John G. Blank Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN Michigan State...

"True North - Identity" is a worms-eye view of a brilliant blue sky with a maze of distinctive clouds. The surreal quality of the imagery makes the viewer question reality. Are the clouds actual clouds or made by some other means? Are those fluffy clouds behind the bare branches or mountains? The ellipsed edges confirm the scene as an inner vision rather than a window on the world. The painting itself is painted on a handmade wooden panel with beautifully finished edges so no frame is needed. Mark Bowers True North - Identity oil on panel 9h x 12w in 22.86h x 30.48w cm MJB014 TRUE NORTH PAINTINGS Unconscious systemic biases may guide our actions or direct us---similar to the human construct of “True North”, which holds to coordinate systems. The Earth’s “Magnetic North” moves over time according to polar shifts; flux and correction is enabled by polarity. In these paintings (Privilege, Orientation, Belief, Identity, Equity), I use compositional elements referencing nautical com- passes to suggest that society must navigate not within systems, but naturally through positive relationships and change. I hope that my art represents our present day - but also imparts a dreamful glimpse of hope and faith within. Explanation: A magnetic compass does not point toward the true North Pole of the Earth. Rather, it more closely points toward the North Magnetic Pole of the Earth. The North Magnetic Pole is currently located in northern Canada. It wanders in an elliptical path each day, and moves, on the average, more than forty meters northward each day. Evidence indicates that the North Magnetic Pole has wandered over much of the Earth's surface in the 4.5 billion years since the Earth formed. Mark Bowers- Artist Statement With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt more and more like something I have always known. Something I could easily apply, stage, and manipulate as a diary. My work consists of small-scale highly detailed landscape paintings. They are inspired by the comfort, trepidation, and beauty found in the mundane Chicago Suburbs. I combine nature, decorative house wares...

Still-life with a profile portrait was painted by Spanish artist Goyo Domínguez in 1994. Acrylics in a 65 cm by 54 cm wooden panel. Using a classical style with renaissance reminisc...

This pair of excellent Italian still life oil on canvas with flowers and fruit with classical ruins on the background and colored drapes create harmony of the composition. Notable ...

This pair of excellent Italian still life oil on canvas with flowers and fruit with classical ruins on the background and colored drapes create harmony of the composition. Notable ...

98 x 36 cm each without frame - 112 x 50 cm with frame Antique gilded and shaped wooden box frames Expertise by Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri This marvellous pair of flower vases has b...

19th Century Continental School A study of a saint Medium ; oil on panel Size: 26" x 12" inches

Wonderful Early 19th-century Still life of different fruits on an earth bank. Very much painted in the same way as George William Sartorius painted his still lives this piece has al...