FERRARA SHOWMAN GALLERY Figurative Paintings

“Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” A quote oft attributed to various sources that was never actually uttered by any of them. Though Mark Twain elaborated on the sentiment...

“Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” A quote oft attributed to various sources that was never actually uttered by any of them. Though Mark Twain elaborated on the sentiment...

“Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” A quote oft attributed to various sources that was never actually uttered by any of them. Though Mark Twain elaborated on the sentiment: “Ninety-nine parts of all things that proceed from the intellect are plagiarisms.” In the Framed Series, I use my 1% contribution to combine issues of consumption with my autobiography. I paint copies of copies of paintings within paintings to reference the appropriation, commodification, and altered continuum of art. My paintings of paintings are based on photographs of originals to perpetuate the continual distillation of form, given the ease with which images are presently exchanged and modified. Further, by reducing historically significant paintings to framed objects hanging on walls, I augment art as a commodity and reconcile the conflict between the artificially assigned monetary value of artworks with the reality that they are simply swirls of paint. In this way, I am also acknowledging the literality of my own work. I have also altered each copied painting to personalize the context of the pieces and address specific autobiographical ideas. These ideas relate to a range of both recent and distant experiences, both funny and sad. Although my initial renderings are digital image composites, my medium of choice is oil paint, applied in transparent layers, using the image on the computer screen as a reference. In addition to its lush visual properties, I enjoy the flexibility of oil paint in making acute renderings as well as the evolution of the imagery from paint to digital and back to paint in further protracting both the distillation and evolution of form. statement on piece "The character Jame Gumb, from the 1991 film and 1988 book, The Silence of the Lambs...

after: Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Blind Leading the Blind (1568), Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Building (1903), and #17 Beast and the Beauty from Wally Wood’s, Bob Powell’s, and Norm Saunders’ Mars Attacks trading cards...

after: Joseph Shuster’s Superman #1 Cover (1939) and #17 Beast and the Beauty from Wally Wood’s, Bob Powell’s, and Norm Saunders’ Mars Attacks trading cards...

after: Joseph Shuster’s Action Comics #1 Cover (1938) and #19 Burning Flesh from Wally Wood’s, Bob Powell’s, and Norm Saunders’ Mars Attacks trading cards (1962) Framed: 9h x 9w in Continuing the exploration of Superman’s role as extraterrestrial anomaly – an alien who’s also a friend, I spent time considering how important one’s actions (on a singular occasion, in sum, alone, in collaboration with others, etc.) are in determining overall “goodness” or social value. In literally his first exposure to any reader, on the cover of Action Comics #1, Superman is shown smashing a large car against a rock, while three well-dressed men run away in fear. Taken by itself the image presents a deranged, super-strong vandal. It’s only upon reading the full narrative that we understand Superman’s action to be part of a rescue mission and the men to be gangster villains. When we allow Superman to be considered as an individual, responsible for his own actions, and over a series of events, rather than one incident, we find our hero. But when I offer Superman another alien (this one up to no good), and deny any exposure to a fuller understanding of circumstance, it’s much more difficult to separate Superman’s destructive actions from those of his new companion. Better Alone Than in Bad Company...

Framed: 11h x 16w in ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the...

ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the manufacturing of pigm...

Framed: 20h x 18w in ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the...

ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the manufacturing of pigm...

ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the manufacturing of pigm...

full title: George Washington, George Washington Carver, the Spruce Goose, and a Victorious Tiger Woods Framed: 10h x 10w in ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, O...

Framed: 10h x 10w in ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the...

Gina Phillips is a mixed media, narrative artist who grew up in Kentucky and has lived in New Orleans since 1995. The imagery, stories and characters of both regions influence her wo...

Gina Phillips is a mixed media, narrative artist who grew up in Kentucky and has lived in New Orleans since 1995. The imagery, stories and characters of both regions influence her wo...

Gina Phillips is a mixed media, narrative artist who grew up in Kentucky and has lived in New Orleans since 1995. The imagery, stories and characters of both regions influence her wo...

Gina Phillips is a mixed media, narrative artist who grew up in Kentucky and has lived in New Orleans since 1995. The imagery, stories and characters of both regions influence her wo...

Gina Phillips is a mixed media, narrative artist who grew up in Kentucky and has lived in New Orleans since 1995. The imagery, stories and characters of both regions influence her wo...