"Girl in a Black Dress" 2011, 22 x 25 inch, oil on panel

My initial reaction upon entering the studio of the young artist Juliana Romano is that I was struck by how much I like her paintings. I am always a bit leery when it comes to figurative painting, especially portraits that so intimately capture the sitter. However, in Juliana’s case, there is no sitter, only images she has found on the internet or browsing through magazines. As my eyes moved around the space I noticed that the artist has a few different ways of portraying her subjects, up close and in more detail, and further away with more abstracted forms that exist as a sort of “environment” for the people represented. The commonality in all her works, however, is an intense use of color that emphasizes the mood of her paintings and the gestural quality which creates visible brushstrokes; she paints very quickly.

Juliana in her studio

Working in oil on panel and canvas, Juliana uses images and people that she attempts to make unrecognizable by the time a work is completed. I asked her why she does not paint people she knows since I felt that her work emitted such string emotive qualities. And she wisely stated that, “I don’t feel like I am capturing them. I’m not sure portraiture can do that.” She went on to explain that the viewer is experiencing an artist’s rendition of someone and that doesn’t always do them justice. The only artist that Juliana felt could really manage to capture humans was Rembrandt.

"The Escape" 2008, 48 x 60 inch, oil on canvas

At 13 years of age Juliana attended her first figure drawing class and she was hooked, going every week from 8th grade through her senior year of high school. That helped her to really learn a great deal about the human form.  She painted self-portraits and friends but something about those paintings felt cold to her. For her undergraduate thesis at Wesleyan, she painted models. She spent her first year of graduate school at UCLA painting only still lifes but grew to miss the figure. She explained that, she needs the figure to activate meaning for her in the painting. So, her second year, she returned to the figure but struggled with where to find subject matter. While playing around on the computer one night looking at internet fan sites, she decided to paint the young actress Kirsten Dunst. She didn’t consider this a work of art–she was “just blowing off steam.” But this intrigued her and in her quest to find out why, she exclusively painted Kirsten Dunst for an entire year as a way to explore her own style and technique.

Though she moved away from Dunst, she continued to use film stills for inspiration but young, beautiful people (often with blonde hair) continued to be of interest to her. However, due to her use of bright and unnatural colors for the subjects’ skin, hair and clothing, there is something sad and unsettling about the paintings. I was intrigued though and drawn in for a closer look due to their intimate nature.

"Untitled" 2008, 48 x 60 inches, oil on canvas

For her first show at Marvelli Gallery in New York right after grad school, she placed celebrities in Victorian dresses so there was a collage element to these often playful works. Later she completed a residency at Vermont Studio Center where she copied a small Richter painting just to make something beautiful. Her time away seemed to be a turning point for her. There she made small paintings that felt more psychological. She had been looking at a lot of contemporary art and she became inspired by a lighter touch. She also began to explore the use of Matisse-like pattern and space in her compositions.

"Girl in a Patterned Dress" 2011, 11 x 14 inches, oil on panel

Juliana has realized that she needs lots of stimuli in order to paint–the more she is looking at, the better. Some of her work has an Alice Neel feel to it, an inspiration she acknowledges. She mentioned that some of her favorite artists are not just painters but also photographers. Some of her favorites are: the painter and former Turner Prize nominee Gillian Carnegie, David Hockney, Elizabeth Peyton, Fairfield Porter, and Mamma Andersson. She also likes the photos of Rineke Dijkstra.

new works in the studio

When asked why she likes using flat planes of color and loose, undefined brushworks to create backgrounds she explained that, ” figures in natural spaces are a little boring.” She begins her paintings making big shapes of color and then paints over the work often in many layers which can give a very different feel to works depending on what peeks through. There is also impasto and texture to her surfaces which adds depth and interest to the work. She explores a great deal while she works and though she doesn’t know the people she paints, she is interested in conveying emotion through her paintings. I asked her why she only paints the young and pretty and she said the work becomes less personal to her when she moves away from that, and it is very important for the work and the process to be personal- she ends our conversation, “it’s Romantic in that way.”

In the studio

Juliana’s works range from about $3000-12,000. Brand New Gallery in Milan, Italy is having a solo show of Juliana’s called Dark Before the Bright Exit that opens September 22nd. She is represented in New York by Marvelli Gallery. For more information visit: http://www.marvelligallery.com/Romano1.html

Jonathan Prince's Studio

On a perfect day at the end of July the artist Jonathan Prince and his lovely wife, Bridget, invited a handful of people to their home/studio in the Berkshires for a sneak peek at the four pieces that will be included in an upcoming exhibition he is creating for the Sculpture Garden at 590  Madison Avenue (at 56th Street) called “Torn Steel.” It opens on September 15, 2011 and will be up through November 18th, 2011.

Jonathan speaking to our group

Prince had an entirely different and quite successful career in media and the arts before starting his sculptural practice 8 years ago. One of his concerns starting out was that people would not take him seriously as an artist thinking he is only dabbling in the creation of art as a hobby. But after seeing not only the time and energy he has invested, but also the money he has put into the machines necessary to make the sculptures and this venture, it is clear this is a way of life, not a pasttime.

detail of "Broken Torus," 2008, Cambrian Granite, 40 x 80 x 40 in

He began sculpting in black granite and has always been interested in geometric shapes. As time progressed, his interest developed into exploring fractured geometric surfaces. He pushes the limits of precision and then breaks it.

Metalized surface of "Cog,"2009, Granite with Palladium Leaf, 24 x 22 x 22 in

Once that interest manifested itself, he took it a step further, metalizing the broken surface highlighting what to him looked like scar tissue. Tearing a perfect geometric form is fascinating to him.

"Vestigial Block I" 2010, CorTen and Stainless Steel, 38 x 36 x 36 in

In his most recent pieces, the works are much larger and the tear is highlighted through the use of stainless steel, not silver leaf. The “scar tissue” is not always random and accidental looking. Instead, Prince often uses patterns found in nature such as veining or the wing structure of insects to cover the gashes in the works. Although Prince describes his work as non-narrative, he believes that all his works of art have an internal narrative that he chooses not to share so that the viewer will experience their own interpretation of the work.

"Torn Steel" work in progress, "Disk Fragment" 2011, Oxidized and Stainless Steel, 9.5 x 8 x 5 feet

So why the switch from stone to steel? “Carving granite is an extremely tedious task and is a reductive process,” explains Prince. Steel allows him to penetrate space in large volumes with an additive technique. He worked in a foundry as a young man and loves casting, but art is “very much about the material” to him. He wanted to experiment with industrial materials.

Jonathan explaining his process, "Torus 340" in progress, Oxidized and Stainless Steel, 13.5 x 12 x 8'

The process of creation is labor intensive considering that every work is fabricated, nothing is cast. He has four studio assistants but also executes himself. He wants the hand of others in the process so that there is an element of chaos and randomness created after the precision of the geometry is set.

Maquettes

He draws, puts the work onto a computer and makes maquettes before the fabrication begins though maquettes are not made for every piece. And all maquettes made are not actualized, they are simply a means to work out issues during the creation process that can’t happen in a two-dimensional drawing.

"Red" 2007 South African Granite, 66 x 64 x 16 in

He recognizes that some of his work explores similar themes that other artists have investigated. He doesn’t worry about it though; he just does what he loves and feels like the work is totally reflective of him. One of my favorite works is an earlier stone work that reminds me of Anish Kapoor in its organic disc-like shape. The indentation reminds me of watching a raindrop fall into a puddle of water, though the work actually stands on its end.

The outer oxidized steel surfaces reminded me of Richard Serra’s work; however, Prince does not always let gravity control the patina on the pieces. We saw them in a rarer form; they will be sandblasted and patinaed before they are ready for the show. It was very interesting to see how much time and planning goes into a show where the works weigh up to 10,000 pounds. It is truly an architectural project.

"Space Between B1" 2009, Digital C-print, 50 x 40 in

Photography is another medium of interest to Prince. He investigates the notion of liminal space in between forms. In his “Split Nude” series, a body is photographed and separated into the geomteric forms that serve as the basis for sculptural pieces. The work is sexy but not sexual as it doesn’t really show anatomy–even though one is looking at nude forms.

Part of what makes creating fun for Prince is that the viewer brings his/her own experience to the work. They complete the form in their own mind and see what they want to see. As long as they are engaged as possible, Prince is satisfied. Western society looks at broken objects as worthless; Jonathan Prince wants us to give them a second look and see their value and beauty.

Prince is represented by five galleries: Cynthia Reeves in NYC, 212 Gallery in Aspen, Elaine Baker Gallery in Boca Raton, Morrison Gallery in Kent, CT and Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe.

For more information visit: http://www.jonathanprince.com/