Filed under: Process Of A Painting, Uncategorized | Tags: Ellen C. Caldwell, In the Studio, Karen Ann Myers, NAP 100, Process of a Painting
Karen Ann Myers’ (NAP #100) series of scantily clad, young females rest on their beds, but seem unrested and uneasy. They look to the viewer in a confrontational and semi-seductive manner, as if being photographed or watched voyeuristically—thus positioning the viewer in an awkward role as the voyeur getting a glimpse into or playing an active role in the intimate space of these young women.
Karen Ann Myers, “Geo Stripe” (36″ x 24″, oil on panel), 2012.
Her subjects have been described as “troubled figures” and “virginal lovelies,” though honestly, to me, they quite poignantly and sharply depict young adults. Isn’t that what your later teenage and twenty-something years are? Awkward, sexual, daring, shameful, richly emotional, and totally complex… and Myers captures all of this quite accurately, beautifully, and seamlessly. There is a quietness in her compositions, despite the loudness of the geographic textiles, wooden floors, and colored walls. And it is a pleasure to explore them all. - Ellen C. Caldwell, Los Angeles Contributor
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Barry McGee, Bay Area, Chris Johanson, Clare Rojas, Margaret Kilgallen, Mission District, Nadiah Fellah, Ratio 3, Rigo 23, the Mission School
Margaret Kilgallen, Untitled, c. 2000, Acrylic on canvas, 27 x 25 inches. Courtesy Ratio 3, San Francisco.
The Margaret Kilgallen show at Ratio 3 in San Francisco brings together over three dozen small works on paper and a handful of larger canvas pieces, all belonging to the late artist’s estate. An artist best remembered for a striking impression delivered with a duality of color and scale, the works at Ratio 3 are much more quiet, intimate, and candid. Some appear like private doodles, and others like focused studies for larger works, such as collections of lips or shoes punctuating a few small pages. All are drawn with her characteristic calligraphic lines in boldly colored acrylic.
Kilgallen—who died in 2001 at the age of 33—along with fellow artists Barry McGee (her husband and collaborator), Chris Johanson, Clare Rojas, Rigo 23 and several others have earned the movement moniker of The Bay Area Mission School, referring to the Mission District in San Francisco where many of them drew inspiration and lived or worked. The style is a reflection of low-tech, subversive art making, and relies on the inclusion of found objects, graffiti, and folk art quotations. It refers to a style that arose in the early 90s, but was not coined until 2002.
More after the jump! —Nadiah Fellah, San Francisco contributor
