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Indepth Arts News:
"Gary Faigin: Tradition and Contradiction"
2001-07-13 until 2001-09-02
Frye Art Museum
Seattle, WA,
USA
In recent paintings inspired by the serenity of
Bellini, the light of Caravaggio, and the attitude of
Catch 22, Gary Faigin explores ways in which
meaning is created and destroyed through the
manipulation of images and text. His imagery is
derived from conventions of traditional still lifes and
mass-media billboards and, at first glance, seems
easily accessible. Upon further contemplation,
however, more complex possibilities arise: things
quietly fly apart or explode, signage translates into
riddles, and the boundaries between nature and
artifice begin to be called into question.
Conducting
these gentle tensions is the hand of a consummate
formalist. The witty contradictions are made
possible, even beautiful, because they float on a
harmonious grid of symmetry and are painted with
a love for the virtuosity of the Old Masters.
Gary Faigin, artistic director and cofounder of the
Seattle Academy of Fine Art, received his
training at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, the
Art Students League in New York City, and the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He has
exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions in
Seattle, Santa Fe, and New York. His paintings
have been featured in numerous publications
and they are in corporate and museum
collections across the United States. In addition
to painting and teaching, Mr. Faigin wrote and
hosted the video, Drawing from the Live Model,
and wrote and illustrated the classic text, The
Artist's Complete Guide to Facial
Expressions.
Popular abroad, this book was recently
published by Taschen in French and German
translations. Gary Faigin is also the art critic on
Seattle's NPR station, KUOW.
IMAGE:
Gary Faigin,
Billboard with Real Lemons, 1999,
46 x 60 in.
Courtesy of the artist and
Gordon Woodside/John Braseth
Gallery.
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