You are out for a night in New York City. The club is intimate and close, yet energy surges through the tableau as buttery soft light plays through the empty glasses, liquor bottles and vast mirrors reflecting the nightlife behind you. Amidst it all, long-time barmen deftly mix the drink you are waiting for.
Skyline Bar, oil on canvas, 28 x 42 in.
The artist showcases his trademark bar scenes in 25 to 30 new works in an upcoming solo exhibition at Cavalier Gallery in New York City. The show opens with a reception on Thursday, November 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
While he is often thought of as the “bartender painter,” the show features several other subjects including intimate family moments as well as scenes from his travels around the world.
Oxborough says early on in his painting career, he realized he wanted to achieve a real sense of light in each work. “I’m not the first one to do this in history,” he says. “But I think the magic trick is being able to do it with some personal style.” Oxborough draws inspiration from several masters of light such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas and John Singer Sargent, among others.
Polo Lounge Bar, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.
“I am still trying to get better, but there’s something magical about taking these abstract shapes and creating this light-filled image on a two-dimensional canvas that excites me,” he says.
The artist often frequents local bars and other forms of nightlife on his travels where he can make sketches and take photographs of people working in their own environments.
“These are real people doing their real things,” he says. “Nothing is staged, I’m not bringing in models to compose a scene; there is a real truth here.” Oxborough notes that he is particularly drawn to bartenders he has met who have made careers of more than 30 years in their craft among the brightly colored bottles and polished countertops. He notes the clean lines of the uniforms are a central unifying point in each work. In a piece titled Musso and Frank, warm lamp light encompasses richly red jackets that play off labels, liquors and flowers in the background. It welcomes the viewer in, as though they are waiting for the very drink the tender carefully opens with gloved hands.
Bartenders at Belmans, oil on canvas, 34 x 48 in.
There is a sense of infinite space that simultaneously draws the viewer in while pushing their gaze outward. In Skyline Bar, the vast array of alcoholic offerings mimics the city landscape seen through a window reflected in a mirror.
“I like the way the warm bottles stand out against the cool colored skyline,” Oxborough says. “In addition to the almost infinite depth of the skyline, the interplay between the reflection on the glass intrigued me as well.”
Oxborough hopes that viewers will feel that sense of authenticity, while getting lost in the paintings as they move closer, farther away and around each piece. Gallery owner Ron Cavalier celebrates the artist’s dedication to pushing himself with each new work.
Musso and Frank, oil on canvas, 42 x 60 in.
“Paul Oxborough continues to set the standard for contemporary realism in America,” he says. “Over the past 18 months, he has pushed his craft to a completely new level—capturing light, mood and human presence with a level of nuance that only a true master can achieve.” —
Cavalier Gallery 3 W. 57th Street, 4th Floor • New York, NY 10019 • (212) 570-4969 • www.cavaliergalleries.com
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