Studio Visit, Q&A with me and Sarah Butler

acrylic paintings, art, contemporary art, figurative art, political art, studio visit

STUDIO VISIT: JOSEPHA GUTELIUS

Studio location: A garage (without the car!) semi-attached to my house. The only natural light is west, which makes for interesting shadows, ideal for my purposes.

How long working here? I moved in early August this year, so the studio hasn’t been mucked up much. I’m still trying to keep it clean and neat. Give it a few months.

THE SPACE

One advantage: I can paint large, larger, largest and cart the canvas out the garage door. Of course, having a new studio feels like a fresh start. I finally have more floor space—my method is to work on the floor, kneeling.

And I have wall space: that’s amazing! The first thing I did when I moved into the new studio, I hung up about 30 of my paintings, it was like seeing them for the first time.

Challenges: Electricity? Yes. But no plumbing: no sink, no toilet. So I do a lot of trudging back and forth.

THE WORK

I tend to work on several paintings at once and revisit old paintings accordingly. And especially now with the fresh new context of the studio, I see everything differently. I’m thinking I want to go toward interior scenes. Figures, of course. But I haven’t done much with objects, and I plan to.

Recommended Reads?

Ross King’s The Judgment of Paris. Immensely detailed, with a sweeping perspective on what King calls “the revolutionary decade that gave the world Impressionism.” King’s starting point is Meissonier, the Andy Warhol of the 19th century (and coincidentally Salvador Dali’s favorite painter). A brilliant illustration of the relativity of the canon.

Another seminal book: Lothar Lang’s Expressionist Book Illustration in Germany, 1907-1927. I’ve pored over that book for years—the drama of the line, the black/ white contrast, the spare use of color as “gesture,” an art of protest. Raw and brutal stuff; those paintings can’t be tamed. The basics for me are content and drama.

And the inimitable Lucy Lippard, the art shaman. I don’t necessarily like the art she likes, but I love looking at art through her eyes. I See/ You Mean is a phenomenal novel.

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Solo Show of My Paintings’ series “School Days”

acrylic paintings, contemporary art

This April, my first solo show, “School Days,” curated and presented by Paul McMahon, a pioneer of the the alternative space movement (Google him and you will discover many surprises).

Gutelius, Solo show, partial installation view

Gutelius, Solo show with Nina

Using acrylic markers

acrylic paintings, contemporary art

A strange, new departure for me (okay, not strange for most people), but:

Buying canvas (rather than stretching it myself) and using acrylic markers (rather than finger painting, which is my usual method) — something about those combinations… well, the result is a patchwork style that’s a little off the grid for me. And maybe way too familiar to others.

This one is probably unfinished. No title even. And why are these so small here? Sorry for that.

18 x 36 acrylic on canvas

These two, titled “What the Astronaut Saw” — belong together as far as I’m concerned. But probably unfinished. I’m inordinately proud of the sheep on the right though.

What the Astronaut Saw, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas

(More) paintings revisited, retouched, and two new

acrylic paintings, contempory art

Fall is slowly arriving in the Hudson Valley, and the splash of colors I see from the windows of my studio inspire me to add my own splash of colors. Slight differences between the old and new versions of paintings — old, meaning in my case a few months’ old, since I only started painting in January this year.

And also, two new paintings… Berlin Celebration (below) may need a few splashes of color — but for now I like the white-on-black and hint of red and yellow. This painting would not be possible without the inspiration of Gerhard Richter’s early amazing monochromes.

Berlin Celebration, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 26

And Street Art Berlin (below), hmmm…. this really is a slightly altered depiction of wall art I saw on my last trip to Berlin — a lot of famous artists have added their splashes to the buildings in Berlin, and this could be one by the infamous and wonderful Richard Prince (note the “U R So Porno Baby”), which would be perfect, considering he borrows from others as I am presumably borrowing from him in this painting. With all due respect. He follows me on Instagram. And he lives nearby. Howdy, neighbor. I should tag him. Oh, yes, I’ll do that.