Carl Grauer Figurative Paintings

Blue (Sepia Toned Figurative Oil Painting of Boys on Bikes with Blue Ball) Contemporary figurative painting based on a 1960's photograph, plays deeply on feelings of nostalgia and identity. oil on wood panel 20 x 20 x 2 inches Carl Grauer’s 'Blue' plays with the tension between memories, the “return to home”, and the actual experienced past through the renderings of the family unit. Inspired by images on found slides or old family photos, Grauer provokes mixed responses of delight and sadness, reminding us that unlike space, time cannot be returned. Grauer paints 'Blue' in black and white, sepia tones, and blue oil paint on wood to capture the nostalgia of a vintage 1950's photograph. Two young children ride bicycles in a charming landscape while one child holds a big blue ball. The blue ball beautifully contrasts with the sepia toned landscape. The brushstrokes are smooth, with little texture built upon the surface. About the work: Recollections, a series that plays with the tension between memories, the “return to home”, and the actual experienced past, is an idea that I explore through the renderings of the family unit. Nostalgia comes from the Greek word nostos, meaning “to return to home” and algos, meaning “pain”. Before the rise of pathological anatomy and bacteriology made it less credible, medically; nostalgia was considered a “disorder of the imagination. Through time, nostalgia’s meaning became a more generalized reaction to the sad fact that, unlike space, time cannot be returned. I initially began with source imagery of found slides and photos of people I find at flea markets, second hand stores or from my own family’s collection. I take the source imagery and change elements to signify specific moments that could be seen as memories that are remembered or forgotten. I aim to represent nostalgic scenes that may relay a tension, sorrow or humor that could be constructed memories or actual experienced events. The exact narrative may be forgotten or unknown, but the complex projection of an idealized story that I find intriguing may serve to reflect a feeling or memory for another person. CV 1975 Born in Wilson, Kansas, USA EDUCATION 1998 Bachelor of Arts – University of Kansas 2000 Mastor of Fine Arts – University of Michigan 2015 Portrait and Figure Painting – London Atelier of Representational Art EXHIBITIONS 2016 "Petit: A Group Exhibition of Smaller Sized Art...

Portrait painting of LGBTQ icon, Barbara Gittings Entitled: "Barbara Gittings (Mother)" Painted by Carl Grauer in 2019 Oil and gold leaf on board 20 x 32 inches, 20 x 16 inches when closed Can rest on a surface or can be hung with two d-rings that are installed on the back This painting was made by Poughkeepsie, NY based artist, Carl Grauer, in 2019. It is part of the artist's latest series, The Lavender Temple of Their Most Fabulous, painted in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Here the artist depicts LGBTQ activist, Barbara Gittings, on a gold leaf triptych frame resembling a Catholic altarpiece. Gittings is further sanctified with a glowing gold leaf halo while holding a copy of "The Ladder". Scenes of homosexual rights protests are featured on the left and right side of the folding triptych. When closed, the painting measures 20 x 16 inches and depicts two female symbols on the front. The piece can be shown unfolded either resting on a surface or by hanging it with the two d-rings that are installed on the back. About Barbara Gittings: Barbara Gittings was a LGBTQ+ activist whose contributions had a significant impact on LGBTQ+ acceptance and rights in the United States. Born in Vienna, Austria in 1932 while her father served as a U.S. diplomat, she was the organizer of the New York chapter of the Daughter of Bilitis (DOB), the first US national lesbian organization and served as editor of the DOB magazine, The Ladder, from 1963-1966. In the 1960s, Gittings co-organized picket lines to raise awareness about the ban on employment of gay people by the U.S. government, the country’s largest employer at the time. She also was part of the movement to persuade the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which they stopped listing as a mental disorder in 1973. Her childhood experiences of finding very little literature or information about being gay inspired her to have a lifelong involvement with libraries, especially the American Library Association (ALA), to promote positive LGBTQ+ literature in libraries. She passed away in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania in 2007 and has awards from the ALA and Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) named after her. “Equal treatment — no more, no less — is what we want! And compassion— which many homosexuals gladly swallow because they think it represents an improvement in attitudes toward them — is not equal treatment.” – Barbara Gittings More about the series: In tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, Poughkeepsie based artist Carl Grauer debuts The Lavender Temple of Their Most Fabulous, a new series depicting notable figures of the LGBTQ+ movement. Portraits of gay rights advocates, such as Harvey Milk...