Duane Hansen: It’s Alive!

Duane Hanson - Woman Eating - 1971 - polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories - Smithsonian American Art Museum - Washington, DCAmerican figurative sculptor Duane Hanson (1925-1996) created lifelike figures made of cast fiberglass and polyester resin and dressed in everyday clothes. They often fooled the public into believing that they were viewing real people. Because of its faithfulness to reality, Hanson’s work is often categorized with that of the Photorealist painters of the same era, who based their paintings on photographic images.

Unlike the two-dimensional paintings, however, Hanson’s three-dimensional objects, life-size and realistic down to the hair on their arms, are uncanny in that they are simultaneously familiar in their lifelike appearance and yet strange as static works of art.

Hanson’s subjects of the late 1960s were political, including war, gang victims, and the homeless. Though he later tempered his political message, he continued to address the largely thankless roles of the working class—housewives, repairmen, office cleaners, dishwashers, museum guards, and janitors, whose bowed heads and vacant gazes reveal boredom and exhaustion.

Audrey Flack: Contributions to Photorealism and Feminism

Audrey Flack - Macarena of Miracles - 1971 - Oil on canvas - 66 x 46 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYAudrey Flack (born 1931) is an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor, who is widely regarded for her innovative contributions to the Photorealist and feminist movements of the late twentieth century. While her early work included abstract motifs, Flack achieved international recognition for her incredibly detailed paintings of still-life compositions and her monumental sculptures of mythical and divine female figures. She holds the distinction of being the first Photorealist painter to have a piece bought by The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

During the late 1950s, Flack retreated from the Abstract Expressionism, which she felt did not communicate effectively or clearly with viewers. That realization marked an important turning point in her artistic career. Because she thought her ability to paint in a realistic manner was inadequate, Flack enrolled at the Art Students League to study anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale. She looked to artists such as Spanish Baroque artist Luisa Roldán (1652–1706) and Italian Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli (c. 1430–c. 1495) as models. Her painting of a crying Virgin Mary, Macarena of Miracles (1971), makes direct reference to Roldán’s sculpture Virgen de la Macarena, La Esperanza.

Photorealism: A Challenge to Idealism and Abstraction

Duane Hanson - Woman Eating - 1971 - Polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories - 50 x 30 x 55 in. - Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (click photo for larger image)The name Photorealism (also known as Hyperrealism or Superrealism) was coined in reference to those artists whose work depended heavily on photographs, which they often projected onto canvas allowing images to be replicated with precision and accuracy. The exactness was often aided further by the use of an airbrush, which was originally designed to retouch photographs. The movement came about within the same period and context as Conceptual art, Pop Art, and Minimalism and expressed a strong interest in realism in art, over that of idealism and abstraction.

The work of Duane Hanson (1925-1996) explores social issues and the complexities of American identity. Hanson is considered one of the central members of the international Photorealist movement of the late twentieth century, a loose congregation of artists who favored naturalistic depiction over the abstract motifs of their contemporaries.

I’ll be teaching a single-session class on Photorealism THIS Thursday (11/2) at the Larchmont Temple. Register HERE if you’d like to attend.

Audrey Flack: Feminist Photorealist

Audrey Flack - Macarena of Miracles - 1971 - Oil on canvas - 66 x 46 in. - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NYThe name Photorealism (also known as Hyperrealism or Super-realism) was coined in reference to those artists whose work depended heavily on photographs, which they often projected onto canvas allowing images to be replicated with precision and accuracy. The exactness was often aided further by the use of an airbrush, which was originally designed to retouch photographs. The movement came about within the same period and context as Conceptual art, Pop Art, and Minimalism and expressed a strong interest in realism in art, over that of idealism and abstraction. Among several male practitioners of Photorealism there is an interest in themes of machinery and objects of industry such as trucks, motorcycles, cars, and even gum ball machines, whereas Audrey Flack, the sole female practitioner, infuses her works with greater emotionality and the transience of life. Ultimately, the Photorealists were successful in attracting a wide audience, but they are often overlooked by art historians as an important avant garde style.

Audrey Flack (born 1931) is an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor, who is widely regarded for her innovative contributions to the Photorealist and feminist movements of the late twentieth century. While her early work included abstract motifs, Flack achieved international recognition for her incredibly detailed paintings of still-life compositions and her monumental sculptures of mythical and divine female figures.

Where Skills Collide

(click photo for larger image)

Drawing and restoration skills emerge in these amazing works of photorealism by Spanish artist, Pedro Campos.
Click here for more images of this talented painter's work....