Arcadia Contemporary | 6/19-7/11 | New York, NY

Portrait of a Man

Upcoming exhibition turns its attention toward the less often seen subject of the male form

An upcoming exhibition at Arcadia Contemporary in New York City turns its attention toward the less often seen subject of the male form, in all of its diversity and intrigue. Running June 19 through July 11, Male of the Species presents new works in mediums like oil, acrylic and graphite, by such artists as Kevin Foote, Ben Ashton, Loribelle Spirovski, Ron Hicks, Jeffrey Chong Wang and many others.Jeffrey Chong Wang, Early Snow, oil on canvas, 24 x 24"

In Clementine Hanbury’s oil Francesco, a young man toes the line between modern and old-fashioned, wearing casual, contemporary clothing but sporting a handlebar mustache, which has made a resurgence in recent years especially among younger men. The piece was painted while the artist was living in Florence, Italy, and the model is a photographer and rock climber from a small town called Pistoia, about 30 minutes outside Florence. “In January 2020, he had contacted me about sitting for a portrait. He is not a portrait model, nor had he ever posed for anyone before or since. As a one-off, Francesco wanted to fully experience what it is to be the subject through someone else’s perception,” says Hanbury. “I took one look at this fabulously moustached, pipe smoking, eccentric man that had appeared to have walked right out of an Arthur Conan Doyle novel, and just had to paint him.”Lavely Miller, I Painted a Man, acrylic on panel, 40 x 30"

I Painted a Man provides an intimate portrait of a man created by Lavely Miller’s own imagination. “Most of my subjects now are made-up people. I borrow features from different sources and manipulate them around and together to come up with a reference image of a person who does not actually exist,” she says. “I Painted a Man is one of two paintings I did for the Male of the Species group show at Arcadia Contemporary. I haven’t done a painting where the subject was a man in a while; the second one I titled I Painted Another Man. My titles were an attempt to be funny.”Clementine Hanbury, Francesco, oil on canvas, 15¾ x 13¾"

A painting of a boy with a flower pot, Should Have Known Better, is part two of a painting Foote completed in 2019 that he says he “now ironically titled Never, Ever Again.” He says, “[Should Have Known Better] was actually the piece that caught the eye of Steve, the owner of Arcadia Contemporary, which then started our working relationship. This piece is very much about coming into one’s self as an artist and human while shying from fear and insecurity and keeping the same troubles from being exposed.”Arinze Stanley, Portrait of Arinze Stanley, graphite on paper, 28 x 25"

A variety of other artwork in the exhibition demonstrates the myriad nuances and complexities of human beings—reminding us that there’s no single way to be a man, and no single way to paint them.

Arcadia Contemporary
421 W. Broadway • New York, NY 10012
(646) 861-3941 • www.arcadiacontemporary.com