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Art News:
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March 24, 2011
Jonathan Ferrara Gallery Presents Halcyon Days, New Works by Justin
Forbes
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MAILING
LIST
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Jonathan Ferrara Gallery Presents Halcyon Days, New Works by Justin
Forbes
March 30 - May 8, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Halcyon
Days
New Paintings by Justin Forbes
March 30 - May 8,
2011
March 24, 2011 (New Orleans, LA)
Jonathan Ferrara Gallery is proud to present Halcyon Days, new
paintings by Justin Forbes in his first solo exhibition with the gallery
in over ten years. The exhibition opens on Saturday April 2, 2011 with with an
artist reception from
6-9pm.
Halcyon Days features a new series of Forbes' oil paintings - his first
major body of work since Hurricane Katrina drove him from New Orleans in late
2005, as he became a permanent evacuee - a victim of the storm and its
aftermath. This exhibition marks his triumphant return to New Orleans and is his
first gallery exhibition in over seven years.
Justin Forbes paints in a
vivid, almost psychedelic palette; his work combines an Alice Neel-like
surrealism with the American nostalgia in the vein of Edward Hopper and Thomas
Hart Benton. The result is a frenetic, emotion-infused recording of
subterranean culture.
Forbes says of this new body of
work:
In my work, I try to evoke a hipstamatic memory drawn from the inner vaults
of our childlike subconscious residing behind protected firewalls. It is this
shared experience,, this muscle memory in dream or reality that I hope to
capture. Through specific attention to genuine details and characters as they
interact, I attempt to create a stylized personal mythology that both appeals to
the side of us that becomes teary-eyed and giddy with the teen-aged thrill of
something new, and leaves us haunted by the childhood psychodrama of something
old, fervently capturing compressed moments in life that come as close to the
reverie of actual experience as possible within the finite dimensions of a
canvas.
Justin Forbes has been enjoying his artistic pursuits for most of his life. Born
in Hollywood to a professional photographer and a professional dancer, he was
exposed to art at a young age and it was his first love, career, and lifestyle.
Forbes' work is narrative and autobiographical in nature. His life and his art
overlap as many events and dreams make their way into his large, saturated
settings. Forbes seems to invite the viewer to watch a performance and be a part
of the intensity as they are challenged by character elements staring out at the
audience. Color, light and shadow are integral elements in his richly layered
oils. There is a sense of irony along side the often brutally honest story lines
alluded to in Forbes' compositions. There is a sense of familiarity with his
characters as the viewer senses that they "know" people in his portraits and
vividly painted "snapshots" of the scenes of a world that intersects real life
and a hipster fantasy. Forbes strives for a perfect energetic yet loose mastery
of detail and mood as he exaggerates perspective as if the world is being viewed
through a wide angle lens.
Justin Forbes' work has been exhibited in New York, San Francisco and New
Orleans. His work has been featured Juxtapoz Magazine, ART Papers, Tribe
Magazine, the current issue of Twisted South and is slated to be on
the HBO series Treme. Forbes has also done illustrations for Hustler
magazine.
Justin Forbes' paintings are in numerous public and private collections
including the Michael Brown and Linda Green Collection, Actress Sela Ward, TV
commercial producer T.G. Herrington, publishing magnate Larry Flynt, Debora and
Paul Lipman and the permanent collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
Justin is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans.
For more information and images, please contact Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
(504.522.5471 or
info@jonathanferraragallery.com).
To preview selected works from Halcyon Days, please
.
Pictured:
Justin
Forbes
Waiting for the Ball to Drop
(2011)
Oil on
canvas
48 x 60 in
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GALLERY HOURS
Monday - Saturday 11 am to
5pm
Jonathan Ferrara
Gallery
400a Julia
Street
New Orleans, LA
70130
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Forward email
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Jonathan
Ferrara Gallery | 400a Julia Street | New Orleans | LA |
70130
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