A massive 75 works by 75 artists will be showcased during Modern Eden Gallery’s 11th annual portraiture exhibition. Within the show, titled Beyond Original, artists have drawn inspiration from well-known portraits in art history, adding their own interpretations or completely recreating them with contemporary narratives in mind. More than 35 artists in the show will be exhibiting with Modern Eden Gallery for the first time.
John Walker, View Boy (I Want to Be a Western Star), acrylic on panel, 20 x 16"
“We have identified some of the most (arguably) famous portrait paintings in art history and participating artists will be painting reinterpretations…that reflect the original work with their own unique style and artistic context,” says gallery director and exhibition curator Bradley Platz.
“The piece I am creating for Modern Eden’s portrait show Beyond Original will be a reimagined oil painting of Napoleon Crossing the Alpsby Jacques-Louis David,” says Jennika Bastian. “I create in a gestural magical realism style and will be delving into the exploration of the character of Napoleon through a mythical, archetypal lens.” Bastian adds that her painting is inspired by beings of different mythological tales who walk the line between heroism and tyrannical exploitations of power.
E.E. Kono, Inaegualitas, egg tempera, 12 x 6"
Also included in the exhibition is a painting by Ariane Kamps based on Rossetti’s Lady Lilith painting from the pre-Raphaelite era. “My intention was to create a modern take on the powerful beauty, vanity and perception of women in this era. Dante painted his mistress originally for his work, but since I don’t have one of those I asked my sister-in-law to sit for this piece. She happens to have long red hair and as Dante might have described her, is quite a stunner herself,” says the artist.
Colin Poole, Udderlesque, oil on board, 14 x 25¾"
Krisztina Lazar chose Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck as her reference. “I really love mannerist paintings as they have a touch of the surreal to them, and this piece is no exception. I recently had a baby myself and I wanted to do my own version of a Maria lactans painting, the tradition of painting the Virgin Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus. I am combining these two ideas and updating the scenery quite a bit. Imagine if Boris Vallejo painted this image. I’m playing with motifs of heavy metal album covers and over-the-top costuming because as I have found, motherhood is very metal. My Madonna will be wearing an Iris van Herpen gown to exalt her in her full goddess glory. I want to do tribute to both the badassery and grace of being a mom, and this piece will hopefully embody all that and more,” says Lazar. The painting will be called Madonna of the Dinosaurs, with baby Jesus wearing a dinosaur onesie. And instead of St. Jerome off in the distance, a chrome Tyrannosaurus Rex stands in its place.
Michael Foulkrod, Madame X by Serpent, oil on canvas, 20 x 16"
Other artists whose work will be showcased in the exhibition include Jenna Wing-Hu, Colin Poole, Luis Tinoco, Christina Ramos, Abigail Braman, Dave Seeley, Vincent Fink, Mandy Tsung, Morgan Booth and many others. Beyond Original will hang from June 17 to July 15. —
Modern Eden Gallery 1100 Sutter Street • San Francisco, CA 94109 • (415) 956-3303 • www.moderneden.com
Powered by Froala Editor
