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Trick or Treat, Figures in Various Costume and a Dog, Oil on Panel, Framed
By Bruno Surdo
Located in Chicago, IL
Master painter Bruno Surdo brings humor to the painting "Trick or Treat". His classically posed figures sport various Halloween costumes and stand in front of a factory. The painting is framed in a simple black frame.
Bruno Surdo
Trick or Treat
oil on panel
18h x 24w in
45.72h x 60.96w cm
BRS046
Bruno A. Surdo
b. Chicago, 1963
EXHIBITIONS
2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL
Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL
Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY
SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL
Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL
2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art
2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN
Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL
2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL
2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR
Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL
Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY
2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
The Art Show, New York, NY
Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL
2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA
Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL
Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI
1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL
AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL
1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL
1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL
Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL
Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL
John Robert Wiltgen Design
Shoemaker Ruud Collection
Julie & Thomas Danilek
Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver
Benjamin Fernandez
Tom Braake
Betsy Colburn
Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose
Michael Staab & Kathy Brock
Bruce Leep
Frank Tzurect
Mary Foley
Rosalyn Carlson
Mimmy Turney
Janet Long Halstead
Billy Hunt
Carol Galli
Myles Kerrigan
Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman
Theodore Gage
Northrop Art Museum
Past Present & Future Company
Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler
Salvatore Monastero
Nix & Virginia Lauridsen
Joel Miller
David & Marlene Zerkel
Ann & Andy Abel
Claudia Rush
Marc Miller
Leonard Goldberg
Lawrence Pucci
Howard Tullman Collection
Susan & Manny Kramer
James Rinnert
Richar Interiors
Michael & Nancy Colt
Khalid Altijir
Dr. Joe Grodman
Beryl & Jack Gore
Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle
Chuck Wolandi
Jack Schwab & David Sandelin
Thomas Kaczmarek
Marti Dinerstein
Craig & Michael Golden
Mike & Jill Rose
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Bruno Surdo: The Method Artist Responds, by Lucia Mauro, June 26, 2014, anitathemovie blog
An Exhibition of Exhibitionism: Bruno Surdo’s ‘Respond’, by Carrie McGath, July 1, 2014, The Chicagoist Website, Arts and Entertainment
“Inspired Environs: A renowned designer decks out his Loop abode in art and texture” Modern Luxury, Men’s Book, Spring 2014
“Master Class” What’z Up Magazine, Fort Wayne, 2011
”9/11 Painting will be on Display” Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 2011
“Illuminated Images” Fort Wayne Reader, 2011
“Two Faces of Beauty” American Art Collector Magazine, Issue #3 and #59, 2006/2010
“Art and Calamity” Art Papers, 2009
“Versions of the Present, Techniques of the Past” American Artist Magazine, 2004
“Living Artists” Crow Book Publishing, Chicago, IL 2004
“The New Master” by Craig Keller, Chicago Social Magazine, 2004.
“Tragedy, Memory, and Honor,” by William Hageman, Chicago Tribune, March 28, 2002
“Mural Depicts Tragedy of 9/11” Art Section...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Panel, Oil
Is A Storm Coming? - Portrait of a Tattooed Biker, Original Oil on Canvas
By Bruno Surdo
Located in Chicago, IL
Sporting a skull cap and a multitude of colorful tattoos, artist Bruno Surdo has painted this self portrait posed as a biker with a puzzled look . As the titled indicates, a storm i...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
La Boehme - Portrait of a Woman in Fur, Original Oil, Framed in Gold Leaf
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
The subject of Richard Gibbons' painting entitled "La Boheme" is based on the opera by Puccini of the same name - a love story of a poor seamstress and her artist friends in 1830 Boh...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
This Can't Be! - Woman in a Blue Dress Expressing Shock, Original Oil, Framed
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
This painting is part of a series of portraits by Richard Gibbons in which the subject displays shock, dismay, anger or ambivalence in response to an unknown outside event. The portr...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Sogno D'Oro - Seated Muscular Male Wearing a Loin Cloth, Original Oil on Canvas
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
A muscular male is seated on a chair, his eyes closed and head tilted toward the sky soaking up the warmth of the sun. "Sogni D'Oro", meaning sweet dreams, is set upon an intricate b...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Panel
Youth, Portrait of Young Male, Renaissance Style Portraiture, Original Oil
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
The young male subject in Richard Gibbons' work simply entitled "Youth", is that of a curious young man with his head tilted. Dressed in clothing similar ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Victoria, Blond Haired Female Dressed in White Tunic with Purple Flowers, Framed
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
"Victoria" is portrait of a young female with flowing blond hair and draped in white. Purple flowers adorn her hair as well as her dress. Her pale skin, as well as her gaze away f...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Golden Eyes - Portrait of a Woman with a Piercing Gaze, Original Oil Painting
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
Richard Gibbons' painting "Golden Eyes" shows a portrait of a beautiful young woman. Her piercing gaze brings the viewer in for a closer look. Her sultry, yellow eyes are intoxicatin...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
The Raven - Girl In Red Dress with Exposed Breast, Holding Bird, Oil on Canvas
Located in Chicago, IL
The raven is often thought of as a connection between the spiritual and physical world. In this painting, a wise young girl holds a raven in her hands up to her eye as if searching for some great meaning. A clock and a burning candle in the foreground suggests a symbolic connection between the two. The peaceful mountain landscape...
Category
2010s Contemporary Animal Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Dancing Plague - Colorful and Joyous Painting of a Dancing Crowd - Ben Duke
By Benjamin Duke
Located in Chicago, IL
**This artwork is on exhibition and if purchased will be available to ship after June 15, 2025
Choreomania refers to a phenomenon that occurred during the medieval and early modern ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The Curse - Female w/ Sunflowers, Ode to Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Lady Shalott"
By Matthew Cook
Located in Chicago, IL
This is my take on the classic Pre-Raphaelite painting subject and poem “The Lady of Shalott,” by Alfred Lord Tennyson. It is also inspired by the John Everett Millais painting, “The...
Category
2010s Old Masters Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Acrylic
Portrait of Benjamin - Fleur de Lis Background, Oil, Antique Florentine Frame
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Twenty-first century Classical Portraiture has a casual feel as seen here in "Portrait of Benjamin" by Peter Lupkin. The very masculine Benjamin, with his heavy beard, dark tousled ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Salud Johnny - Inspirational Portrait of a Lone Soldier Staring Out at Viewer
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
William Blake’s oil painting asks us to perceive the powerful layers of history that shape both art and memory. In Blake’s painting is a man, but what Blake painted is an idea. Hugh Goffinet stares out from the canvas in the dress of a soldier, without being one. He is a reenactor of an African American volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. His inspiration is the Lincolns—the battalion’s volunteers—but they are pictured only symbolically, in his dress. Their inspiration was Lincoln, who many decades earlier helped give meaning to the American Civil War, but who is invisible in the painting except by implication—the pose of Hugh Goffinet—which carefully emulates Lincoln’s pose in the celebrated presidential portrait by George Healy. Entirely hidden, at the deepest layer of history, is the true source of inspiration: the human desire for equality and freedom. To understand, honor, and preserve it requires remembrance, in this case with history animating reenactors who animate art that animates memory.
Artist, William Blake channels the spirit of Winslow Homer's war imagery, bringing it into the contemporary world, asking us to reflect upon the decisions forced to be made in wartime, some of which will never leave us. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This piece is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options.
William Blake
Salud Johnny, 2023
oil on linen
76h x 36w in
193.04h x 91.44w cm
WIL049
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War reenactments, the reanimation of the past encourages a review of history and aids in its continuous revision.
For his second exhibition with Gallery Victor Armendariz, William Blake presents A Great Battlefield, a collection of new paintings depicting US Marines at the Gettysburg National Military Park. A Great Battlefield, takes its title from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address which poetically looks to the battlefield as a site of rebirth. Following the tradition of nineteenth-century American history painting...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
No Pasaran - Lone Soldier Symbolizing the Human Desire for Equality and Freedom
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
Hugh Goffinet stares out from the canvas in the dress of a soldier, without being one. He is a reenactor of an African American volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. His inspiration is the Lincolns—the battalion’s volunteers—but they are pictured only symbolically, in his dress. Their inspiration was Lincoln, who many decades earlier helped give meaning to the American Civil War, but who is invisible in the painting except by implication—the pose of Hugh Goffinet—which carefully emulates Lincoln’s pose in the celebrated presidential portrait by George Healy. Entirely hidden, at the deepest layer of history, is the true source of inspiration: the human desire for equality and freedom. To understand, honor, and preserve it requires remembrance, in this case with history animating reenactors who animate art that animates memory.
"No Pasaran" - an expression of determination to defend a position against an enemy - channels the spirit of Winslow Homer's war imagery, bringing it into the contemporary world, asking us to reflect upon the decisions forced to be made in wartime, some of which will never leave us. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This piece is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options.
William Blake
No Pasaran
oil on linen
48h x 30w in
121.92h x 76.20w cm
WIL047
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War reenactments, the reanimation of the past encourages a review of history and aids in its continuous revision.
For his second exhibition with Gallery Victor Armendariz, William Blake presents A Great Battlefield, a collection of new paintings depicting US Marines at the Gettysburg National Military Park. A Great Battlefield, takes its title from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address which poetically looks to the battlefield as a site of rebirth. Following the tradition of nineteenth-century American history painting...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
The Girl with the Green Ribbon - Contemplative Female Figure, Oil on Panel
By Tina Figarelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Tina Figarelli is a classically trained artist whose favorite subject matter in her artwork is ideas with a strong narrative. Tina leaves the viewer hints about the story in the piec...
Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Venetian Venus - Original Oil on Canvas, Framed in Heavy Wooden Frame
Located in Chicago, IL
Rick Beerhorst
Venetian Venus
oil on canvas
23.50h x 23.50w in
59.69h x 59.69w cm
RIB006
Rick Beerhorst
B. 1960
Education
1987 University of Illinois...
Category
2010s Contemporary Animal Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Enigma - Surreal Scene With Figure in Muted Greys, Original Oil on Canvas Framed
By John Seubert
Located in Chicago, IL
An enigma by definition is a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand. Such is the subject matter of John Seubert, aka John Grey's painting of the same name. The sphynx-like figure stares out at the viewer holding what appears to be a large bowl. The surreal scene is framed in a repurposed frame that the artist has distressed and painted. It measures 25.5h x 21.5w inches.
John Seubert
Enigma, 2023
oil on canvas
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
JSE076
John Seubert
b. 1958, Chicago, IL
In the early Nineties, John Seubert was living in a former hotel in a high-rise building on St. James Place in Chicago. The apartment was tiny, as hotel rooms tend to be, and clad with paper-thin walls allowing sound to pass from one apartment to the other. At the time, John’s artwork consisted of pounding copper sheets into tables which was a noisy endeavor to say the least. Following several noise complaints from the neighbors, John had a dream that he was living in a ramshackle house but with plenty of room to work and no attached neighbors. The following day after lunching at the McDonalds in Lincoln Park, John wandered the neighborhood a came upon a shabby, falling-down old Victorian house. He located the real estate agent, put in an offer, and weeks later was pushing a shopping cart full of his belongings to his new home.
This 144-year-old Painted Lady provided a blank canvas for this inimitable artist. For many years the house remained so empty that John was able to ride his Japanese fold up bike throughout the 1st floor. “Some people want to have sex...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Palm Sunday -A Contemplative Lone Soldier Sanding in an Open Field, Oil on Linen
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
A solitary figure, hat in hand, bows his head in contemplation of what has just taken place or what is about to take place. "Palm Sunday" channels the spirit of Winslow Homer's war imagery, bringing it into the contemporary world, asking us to reflect upon the decisions forced to be made in wartime, some of which will never leave us. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This piece is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options.
William Blake
Palm Sunday, 2022
oil on linen
36h x 24w in
91.44h x 60.96w cm
WIL033
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War reenactments, the reanimation of the past encourages a review of history and aids in its continuous revision.
For his second exhibition with Gallery Victor Armendariz, William Blake presents A Great Battlefield, a collection of new paintings depicting US Marines...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Brushing Her Hair - Portrait of a Young Woman with Various Objects and Window
Located in Chicago, IL
Early American Portraiture gained a foothold with the middle class, who could now capture personal moments for their private use. This is the basis of Rick Beerhorst...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Incredulity -American Civil War Soldier, After Caravaggio, Original Oil on Linen
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
Caravaggio painted "The Incredulity of St. Thomas" with Christ looking down as he pilots Thomas’ hand to his side. Not looking at Thomas or the others, but to his wound. He seems interested in the proof of his embodiment. He wants to know that this is real. He too, questions his body, his life and death. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This artwork is unframed. Contact the gallery for framing options.
Reenactment is a material culture where the feel of authentic wool has transformative power. The closer you can recreate the “kit” of the authentic soldier the closer you are to that past. In the pursuit of touching the past there are questions- Is this real? Did this happen? Is this me? Is this us? The gesture of piloting a finger into the side represents these repetitive questions. - William Blake
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Solitary La Boheme, Single Male Figure Seated at a Bar, Smoking, Drinking Hamms
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Artists are often isolated, but long for an idealized golden era, “La Boheme”. Frequently an artist's closest encounter with “La Boheme” is nothing more than drinking at a bar...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Union - A Group of Uniformed Soldiers Standing in an Open Field, Oil on Linen
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
A group of uniformed soldiers gather in a grassy field. We see cannons yet must bring our own decisions about what is about to transpire. Painted in the loose style of Winslow Homer, "Union" by William Blake captures a scene in a Civil War Reenactment as the Union Army's Artist Reporter. Portraying Homer as an Artist-reporter, Blake has to be more than merely good draftsmen. He has to be an astute observer, have an instinct for story and drama, the ability to sketch quickly and accurately, and no small amount of daring, as he faces battles first hand. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. Please contact the gallery for framing options.
William Blake
Union, 2022
oil on linen
24h x 36w in
60.96h x 91.44w cm
WIL034
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War reenactments, the reanimation of the past encourages a review of history and aids in its continuous revision.
For his second exhibition with Gallery Victor Armendariz, William Blake presents A Great Battlefield, a collection of new paintings depicting US Marines...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
The Agreement - Contemplative Female Figure with Fruit, Oil on Panel, Framed
By Tina Figarelli
Located in Chicago, IL
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...
Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
A Great Battlefield - A Lone Soldier Sanding in an Open Field, Oil on Linen
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
A solitary figure, head bowed, stands in a field in contemplation of what has just taken place or what is about to take place. "A Great Battlefield" channels the spirit of Winslow Homer's war imagery, bringing it into the contemporary world, asking us to contemplate the decisions forced to be made in wartime, some of which will never leave us. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This piece is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options.
A Great Battlefield
oil on linen
60h x 35w in
152.40h x 88.90w cm
WIL029
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War reenactments, the reanimation of the past encourages a review of history and aids in its continuous revision.
For his second exhibition with Gallery Victor Armendariz, William Blake presents A Great Battlefield, a collection of new paintings depicting US Marines...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Awakening at Gordia - Highly Detailed, Surreal and Symbolic, Acrylic on Panel
By Oliver Hazard Benson
Located in Chicago, IL
This painting, like each of the paintings in the Purple Dawn series, is based on an earlier work that was lost or destroyed in the course of time. Feeling that I wanted to finish wha...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
Portrait of William, April, 2020, Seated Male Wearing Gray Hoodie, Original Oil
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Waiting - it is what we all have been doing during this tumultuous year. Artist Peter Lupkin is no different. In his work entitled "Portrait of William, April, 2020" a family membe...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Old King Avenged - Portrait of Shakespeare's Tragic Hero Hamlet, Oil on Panel
Located in Chicago, IL
This is the point at which Hamlet concentrates all of his resentment and breaks through his earlier hesitation to finally run his poisoned blade through Claudius and avenge his famil...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
TJ, Portrait of a Male Boxer with Two Black Eyes, Blue and Beige Background
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Exploring the tension between the individual and their social archetype, Lupkin chooses his subjects from his local gym where they study boxing. In this intimate portrait, TJ is painted with soft loose brush strokes which contrast with his two black eyes. The painting is framed with a simple black floater frame measuring 17h x 13w inches.
Peter Lupkin
TJ
oil on canvas
16h x 12w in
40.64h x 30.48w cm
PLU011
The artwork I create is a visual statement of my moral philosophy. The language I use to convey this philosophy in my pieces is one of traditional symbolism, this being indoctrinated into my personality through an apprenticeship into a traditional stained glass...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Dreaming Away - Highly Textured Dream-like Painting with Surreal Nautical Theme
By Victor Wang
Located in Chicago, IL
Victor Wang's subject is a female seemingly caught in a contemplative moment yet a war rages behind her. She dons a hat shaped as a boat and carries and oar as if to "Dream Away" these other thoughts. Wang uses a blend of luminous colors and buttery textures to evoke these enigmatic moments of meditation. Influence by the Renaissance Masters Titian and Rembrandt for their glazing and layering techniques respectively, the artist builds the surface using heavy paint, swirling and mixing the color on the canvas. The end result is a poetic and emotionally powerful representation of the human form.
Victor Wang
Dreaming Away, 2017
oil on canvas
42h x 56w in
106.68h x 142.24w cm
VWG009
My path through life has been adventurous, exciting, and dream-like. My experience of settling into America in search of better opportunities has been both challenging and inspiring. I use the human face as a vehicle to paint human experiences - worry and wonder, sadness and pleasure - which reflect the emotional stage directly tied to my immigration experiences.
I grew up amongst the sunflower fields in northern China. In my childhood years, I played under the bright, yellow sunflowers with my brothers everyday. China’s Cultural Revolution played an important part in my life. During that time, sunflowers were used as political allegories to depict how citizens of China should follow Mao who represented the sun, since sunflowers follow the sun’s movements. People eventually inferred the deception that this symbol masked. After graduating from high school, I was sent to a labor camp in the country for ‘reeducation’ during China’s Cultural Revolution. There, I was subject to grueling farm work. Often, I worked in corn and sunflower fields from sunrise to sunset. Thus, for me, sunflowers evoke both personal joy and sadness. Therefore, to deliver my complex feelings, I use sunflowers as a metaphor to connote my background and emotional stage.
My incorporation of collages of figures from China’s Tang Dynasty represents my Chinese heritage and is a constant reminder of where I came from. The texture and earthiness on the canvas’s surface are inspired by the texture of the soil on the farm where I worked in China.
Although I often gain great pleasure from the process of painting, it is most important to unfold expressively those feelings within myself.
Wang belongs to a generation of immigrant painters from China, whose artistic background was defined by socialist realism but took advantage of their skills and broke away from that tradition to create new subjects in the U.S.
“When I was a student during Cultural Revolution, Soviet realism art was among the dominant source of influence and it grabbed us like lightening rod...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Aurora - Winslow Homer Inspired, Croquet and American Civil War, Oil on Linen
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
"Aurora" by William Blake is a tribute to the Civil War scenes painted by Winslow Homer depicting women playing croquet. Often thought of as paintings that were lacking in closure during war time, a haunting scene of the marriage between play and sadness. Here Blake takes that subject matter depicting Aurora with a croquet mallet. Her painterly style is beautifully rendered in broad brushstrokes and a deep color palette.
Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war.
The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Untitled Portrait of a Female with Long Auburn Hair and a Silk Robe Oil on Panel
By Caleb O'Connor
Located in Chicago, IL
Remarkably varied brushwork captures this young woman in a wide array of textures, from the dewiness of her peach colored skin to the silky fabric of her robe to her lush auburn hair. The side view gives her a stately quality set on a dark background. The painting is framed in a black frame with a small gold inlay measuring 24.25h x 20.5w inches.
Caleb O'Connor
Untitled
oil on panel
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
CO006
Caleb O’Connor
b. 1979
Honolulu, HI
EXHIBITIONS
2017 Grand Opening: Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chciago
2010 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
2008 “Art Chicago,” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Palm Beach 3 Art Fair,” Ann Nathan Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2007 “SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art)” Park Ave. Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY
“Art Chicago,” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Palm Beach 3 Art Fair,” Ann Nathan Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2006 “Art Chicago,” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 “Caleb O’Connor: Dreams to Reality,” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Art Chicago in the Park,” Butler Field, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004 “Introducing Caleb O’Connor,” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Art Maui,” Annual Juried Exhibition, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
2003 “Rustica,” The Palazzo Bonini, Fivizzano, Italy
“Group Show,” Fondatzione ARKAD, Seravezza, Italy
“Facing the Real,” the Artists House, Museum of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
“20/30 Vision,” Hui Noi Au, Makawao, HI
2002 “Summer Show,” Gallery K, Washington DC
2001 “Serving Youth,” Gallery K, Washington DC (solo)
“New Works,” Caleb O’Connor, School 33, Baltimore, MD (solo)
“Small Works,” Gallery K, Washington DC
Juried Exhibition, Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Juried Exhibition, MICA Fox Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2000 “The Nine from MICA,” Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2003 Fulbright Grant to Italy, Project: Painting and Sculpture
Elizabeth Greenshields Award, Quebec, Canada
2001 Elizabeth Greenshields Award, Quebec, Canada
2000 Morris Louis 32 Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1999 Painting Department Award, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1996 Presidential Scholarship, Washington DC
PUBLICATIONS
2002 Linda M. Grossman, “Meet an Emerging Artist, Caleb O’Connor,” American Artist Magazine
“20/30 Show,” Maui News, Arts and Entertainments, October, Maui, HI
2001 Jessica Dawson, “The Beast Within,” The Washington Post, January 11, Washington DC
Steve Purchase, “School 33 Opening a Great Show,” The Baltimore Guide Enterprise, MD
“A Star is Born,” The City Paper, Baltimore, MD
“Best Exhibition of the Year,” The City Paper, Baltimore, MD
EDUCATION
2003 Studied under Israel Hershberg...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Joanne in Profile - Photorealist Oil Painting on Oval Panel of Woman in Profile
By Matthew Cook
Located in Chicago, IL
This is a painting in realistic detail of a woman in profile using subtle tones. The oval shaped panel is framed in a custom frame with classic details.
Matthew Cook...
Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
The Artist in Profile - Oval Shaped Portrait Painting in Extraordinary Detail
By Matthew Cook
Located in Chicago, IL
Matthew Cook
The Artist in Profile
oil on aluminum
10 x 8 in. oval
MATTHEW COOK
b. Toledo, OH, 1987
EDUCATION
2017 MFA, Bowling Green State University...
Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Hamburger Hat, Portrait of a Guy Wearing a Purple Shirt and Yellow Hat, framed
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Classical Portraiture takes on a very casual feel in Peter Lupkin's painting entitled "Hamburger Hat". The composition is in the formal portraiture style with the subject gazing out...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Portrait of Deontay Wilder - Original Oil Painting Portrait of Champion Fighter
By Caleb O'Connor
Located in Chicago, IL
Caleb O’Connor
b. 1979
Honolulu, HI
EXHIBITIONS
2018 BloodSport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago
2017 Grand Opening: Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chciago
2010 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
2008 “Art Chicago,” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Palm Beach 3 Art Fair,” Ann Nathan Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2007 “SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art)” Park Ave. Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY
“Art Chicago,” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Palm Beach 3 Art Fair,” Ann Nathan Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2006 “Art Chicago,” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 “Caleb O’Connor: Dreams to Reality,” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Art Chicago in the Park,” Butler Field, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004 “Introducing Caleb O’Connor,” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Art Maui,” Annual Juried Exhibition, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
2003 “Rustica,” The Palazzo Bonini, Fivizzano, Italy
“Group Show,” Fondatzione ARKAD, Seravezza, Italy
“Facing the Real,” the Artists House, Museum of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
“20/30 Vision,” Hui Noi Au, Makawao, HI
2002 “Summer Show,” Gallery K, Washington DC
2001 “Serving Youth,” Gallery K, Washington DC (solo)
“New Works,” Caleb O’Connor, School 33, Baltimore, MD (solo)
“Small Works,” Gallery K, Washington DC
Juried Exhibition, Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Juried Exhibition, MICA Fox Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2000 “The Nine from MICA,” Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2003 Fulbright Grant to Italy, Project: Painting and Sculpture
Elizabeth Greenshields Award, Quebec, Canada
2001 Elizabeth Greenshields Award, Quebec, Canada
2000 Morris Louis 32 Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1999 Painting Department Award, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1996 Presidential Scholarship, Washington DC
PUBLICATIONS
2002 Linda M. Grossman, “Meet an Emerging Artist, Caleb O’Connor,” American Artist Magazine
“20/30 Show,” Maui News, Arts and Entertainments, October, Maui, HI
2001 Jessica Dawson, “The Beast Within,” The Washington Post, January 11, Washington DC
Steve Purchase, “School 33 Opening a Great Show,” The Baltimore Guide Enterprise, MD
“A Star is Born,” The City Paper, Baltimore, MD
“Best Exhibition of the Year,” The City Paper, Baltimore, MD
EDUCATION
2003 Studied under Israel Hershberg...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil