Gestural
Gestural' is a term employed to characterise the technique of applying paint with bold, sweeping brush strokes in a free and expressive manner.
The term 'gestural' initially emerged to describe the painting style of abstract expressionist artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Hans Hofmann, and others, often referred to as 'action painters.' In Pollock's case, he might use a dried brush, a stick, or even pour paint directly from a can, creating a sense that the artist physically acted out their inner impulses.
The idea was that the viewer could perceive something of the artist's emotions or state of mind through the resulting paint marks. De Kooning explained that he painted in this manner to continually infuse his work with various elements, such as drama, anger, pain, and love, allowing the viewer to interpret these emotions or ideas through their own eyes.
This approach to painting draws its origins from expressionism and automatism, notably the work of Joan Miró. In his 1970 history of abstract expressionism, Irvine Sandler distinguished two branches within the movement: the 'gesture painters' and the 'colour field' painters.
24 results found for "Gestural"
Inner Visions 01
In his first collaboration with Avant Arte, critic and curator Larry Ossei-Mensah introduces three artists, Grace Lynne Haynes, Ferrari Sheppard and Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor (he/him) was born in 1954 in Mumbai, India. Today, he lives and works in London and Venice.
Elizabeth Peyton
Elizabeth Peyton (she/her) was born 1965 in Connecticut, United States. Today, she lives and works in New York.
Death Carrier Bunny
Tropes collide in a print on metal by Robert Nava. Death Carrier Bunny, as its title suggests, brings together saccharine and morbid archetypes to absurd effect. Skulls adorn the back of a bright white rabbit surrounded by swathes of blood-like drips. Cartoonish yet gestural, and laced with art historical irreverence, the painting is emblematic of Nava’s monster-filled oeuvre – uninhibited by specificity.For an edition of 35 prints the painting has been transposed to aluminium sheets, lending an industrial sheen to the surface of the artwork, and finished with flashes of white gold leaf. Intentional tarnishing of the exposed metal makes every print unique.
Conrad Jon Godly
Conrad Jon Godly was born in 1962 in Davos, Switzerland, and went on to study at Basel School of Art.
Michael Kagan
Michael Kagan was born in 1980 in Virginia, USA, and now lives and works in Brooklyn. He received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2005.
Mai (Afterlife) after Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai), 1776
In support of the National Portrait Gallery in London, Elizabeth Peyton depicts the subject of Reynolds’ eighteenth century portrait in gestural fuchsia. Reynolds’ original painting portrays Mai – a Pacific Islander from Raiatea who travelled to England in 1773 and became a prominent figure in aristocratic society – at full length, barefoot in flowing robes. In her rendition, Peyton focuses entirely on Mai’s face, which she renders evocatively in loose strokes of oil paint.Peyton’s artwork has been meticulously translated into a 15-layer, limited edition silkscreen in close collaboration artisan printmakers at Make-Ready in London – one of a pair of editions launched in support of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Re-opening in June 2023, the Gallery's diversified collection focuses on presenting an inclusive and dynamic picture of the people who have contributed to the rich history of the United Kingdom.Mai (Afterlife) after Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai), 1776, 2023, silkscreen print © Elizabeth Peyton.
Tearing of the Savage Breast
George Rouy holds a hazy mirror up to physical and psychic states in Tearing of the Savage Breast.A scene of emotional chaos and tangled limbs is contained within a crimson backdrop. Rouy observes the body with a sensorial approach. He distorts some parts with gestural swirls, whilst others remain in calm focus. Although defaced, the three figures remain part of the same world, demonstrating the constant push and pull between the figurative and abstraction seen in the artist's recent works.“I am reacting to the time. Things aren’t pretty at the moment and I’m exploring that with the work.”
Mask of a Woman (Green Patina)
In Mask of a Woman, Nicolas Holiber’s dense impasto forms the basis of a gestural bronze face.The artist’s first bronze edition is an exploration of materiality and artistic intuition. Approaching sculpture through painterly processes, the distorted face is conjured entirely from the artist’s imagination. Replacing the push and pull of heavy acrylic with the malleability of clay, forms and features emerge organically from the cast.“I use a growing set of tools to push and pull the mixture around – adding and subtracting. It’s exciting because it’s a very raw moment, and really, anything can happen. Body parts and faces start to appear.”The edition is also available in a black patina finish.
The Swedish House 10
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 09
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 06
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 05
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 07
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 03
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 02
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 01
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 04
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
The Swedish House 08
Across a series of 10 hand-finished prints, Julian Schnabel uses energetic interjections to connect an idyllic vignette with the here and now. The Swedish House takes its name and subject from a trio of recent paintings based, unusually for the artist, on a photograph. Specifically, a photograph of a small house in rural Sweden. Taken by his brother in law, the postcard-picturesque image appealed to Schnabel’s poetic disposition – “a cliché of the perfect place.”In each print a white oil paint mark punctuates the scene below, while a hand-poured layer of resin lends a glass-like finish. The gestural marks, a recurring motif throughout Schnabel’s practice, connect the artworks with the present moment. “It says that something's not finished, that we're transients – and there's something that goes beyond the edge.”
SOL 23
Conrad Jon Godly’s paintings are of a truthful and mystical nature. SOL 23 exemplifies the artist's gravitation to mountainous landscapes and his signature thick, gestural brushstrokes.
Kalima
Through gestural scenes of childhood and family, American artist Ferrari Sheppard celebrates humanity and diasporic Black life.Kalima is based on an original painting of the same name, part of an ongoing study exploring methods of rendering the figure.
Nevertheless #9
Conrad Jon Godly is a contemporary Romantic whose nature paintings embody the sublime. Nevertheless #9 exemplifies the artist's gravitation to mountainous landscapes and his signature thick, gestural brushstrokes.
Nevertheless #16
Conrad Jon Godly is a contemporary Romantic whose nature paintings embody the sublime. Nevertheless #16 exemplifies the artist's gravitation to mountainous landscapes and his signature thick, gestural brushstrokes.
Nevertheless #20
Conrad Jon Godly is a contemporary Romantic whose nature paintings embody the sublime. Nevertheless #20 exemplifies the artist's gravitation to mountainous landscapes and his signature thick, gestural brushstrokes.
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