Pat Hobaugh
Symphony in White

Name: Symphony in White
Brand: Pat Hobaugh
Price: 2900 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. From the artist:" Sweet Symphony in Whites is inspired by James McNeill Whistler’s three symphony in white paintings. My paintings, like Whistler’s, have multiple layers of meaning. One is the use of a single color and its relative tones as the end intention of the work. By doing this with representational subject matter, the painting is attempting to bridge the modernist aesthetic of ‘art for art’s sake’ with traditional realism. On another level, as Whistler’s paintings have been interpreted as a loss of innocence, so too do mine deal with this loss. There is the loss of innocence in Art from its classical representation in the form of the Venus de Milo to its scientific study in the form of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man to its final manifestation as a commercial product/celebrity in the form of Andy Warhol and Elvis. Furthermore, there is the loss of innocence of the artist himself in the form of the action figure toys and sweets he had as a kid to play with and eat but now which are used as metaphors and painting subjects. Furthermore, the hydrangea, as in all my work, symbolizes the ephemerality of life." Pat Hobaugh grew up on a small farm in rural Indiana. He never took an art class or touched a paintbrush until his senior year in college when he took an Art History course that changed his life. He fell in love with the Old Masters and started to teach himself to paint. After several years of self-education, he went back to school to earn a Bachelors and Masters in painting from the Uni- versity of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively. Now he is represented in galleries across the country and has work in collections around the world. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Pat Hobaugh works in a style that reflects the examination of pop culture fused with the tradition of Dutch still life painting. His fascination with objects (action figures, toys, miscellaneous foods) comes from his anthropological mindset that questions what these objects say about us as a cul- ture. Having dubbed his particular practice of painting our pop culture icons in object form “Stuf- fology,” Hobaugh explores the significance of materiality and “playtime” in the modern world and infuses it with matured satirical wit and a childlike playfulness. Hobaugh also considers the effects from one generation to the next in his paintings, since he uses icons that may be removed from the current pop culture context. In doing this, he alludes to a shift in understanding of young and old. These objects are still toys, a tribute to our youth, though they might not be considered “current.” Though the acknowledgement of lost youth can be overwhelm- ing, Hobaugh conveys gratitude and hopefulness of his youth and of today’s youth by mixing the pop culture figures. Hobaugh says of his works, “My still life work is a quest in exploring and exploding the traditional idea of the representational still life. These paintings began as an examination of the cultural indoc- trination and development of early adolescent children via toy action figures... Overall, they serve as a window into the world where a child’s mythos of heroes and villains are formed. Recently, the still lifes have expanded to include an examination and comparison of themes from past and pres- ent popular culture, such as sugary snacks and breakfast cereals.”

Creator:

Pat Hobaugh (1978)

Dimensions:

Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)

Medium:

Acrylic,Latex,Board

Movement & Style:

Pop Art

Period:

2010-

Condition:

Gallery Location: