About the Exhibition
Reception
Thursday, April 7, 2022, 5:30 - 8:30pm
Showing
April 1, 2022 - May 10, 2022
Visit Us
My new series of urban landscapes were all painted on location, en plein air. Each painting is the result of many visits to the location, over many days, months and for a few works, even years.
Few would consider my artwork to be Impressionistic, yet I feel allied with the Impressionists in several ways. I often think of Monet while I work and I empathize with the challenges he set for himself, as he returned to the same location again and again. I particularly relate to two of his quotes:
“I am following nature without being able to grasp her …” & “Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.”
Monet’s words speak to my own struggle to capture a moment of time. No matter how much time is invested, I constantly strive to reach this elusive and unattainable goal.
These locations in my paintings are always under constant change. The colors and values change with the color of the light, changing clouds, and shifting shadows. All of these change throughout the day and even during a single season. Seattle’s construction boom reflects a city in flux. None of the views in these works still exist exactly as they appear in my paintings. Many buildings rose up or were torn down in the months and years these pieces were in progress. Every car, person, or bird found in these works were selected from momentary encounters on many different days.
My strategy is always to be selective in accumulating observed momentary facts, which hopefully produces a convincing image that reads as a meaningful meditation on each location and a moment of time. – Michael Stasinos