If you're curious about my creative process the following photos show you from sketch to final painting how I created these pups. If you have any questions about them or my process I'd love to hear from you or chat with you at the gallery some time. Feel free to drop me an e-mail at genemoty@yahoo.com.
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This past Spring I was planning a show at the Workhouse Arts Center that had to be cancelled when the state of Virginia shut down due to COVID-19. It was "Portraits", an abstract depiction of the most significant people in my life. It included paintings of my grandparents, parents, siblings, daughter, and partner. Each of these portraits is composed of geometric, textural, and limited color elements that represent how I see each one of these significant people. A fun fact...when I put the paintings of myself and my three siblings in front of my daughter she identified who each of them represented perfectly.
Of all the work I've done these are may most intimate paintings which are done in oil on 10" x 10" canvas. Here are a few photos of some of the pieces. Unfortunately they don't begin to give you the full experience of viewing these paintings. When I do this show in the future I look forward to you dropping by to see it and hear the stories behind each person. Until then you'll have to guess who the following represent. During last night's Second Saturday, at the Arches Gallery of the Workhouse Arts Center, I sold "Lucy" to a wonderful local family. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the personal connections this brings as well as to thank all the people who admire my work and take pieces home.
It's always a great experience when people come into the gallery where they connect with my work and we share our stories. In those moments I get to know a little bit about you and you get to know a little bit about me, my creative process, and the painting that touches you. Thank you for these special moments, memories and being wonderful clients. With that, here are a few of my pieces that went to your wonderful homes in Virginia and Maryland. My painting called "Warrior" is part of the Workhouse Arts Center's "Degrees of Honor" exhibition in their Warrior Way Gallery (Building 16). This group exhibition presents works by the military veterans, Karen Chin, Gene Moty, Christa Turpin, and Rene Vincit that explore expressions of separation, pain, loneliness, turmoil, stories and memories. "Warrior" depicts the spirit of veterans as we've coped with may of these issues while also building those stories and memories. These pieces are on display until May 19th and you can meet us at the Reception on April 13th from 6-8PM. I hope to see you there.
I like working with black and white as it is both elegant and classic while enabling a focus purely the composition of the work. I have many pieces done just in black and white which, I find have a more meditative quality than when there's additional color. The following two works give you an idea of what I mean. I think both are interesting works with the vibrancy of the color adding to the overall composition but it dominates by drawing the viewer's attention. With the following work (still in progress) I wanted to take this black and white composition and bring an additional layer of complexity through the light and shadow of the impasto elements. From the distance the viewer sees the black and white composition and as they are drawn closer to the work the depth of the composition opens up with the textural almost sculptural qualities of the impasto. I think it adds to the meditative quality. What do you think?
I will have this piece (titled P-12) on display as part of an open exhibition at The Art League in the Torpedo Factory Art Center of Old Town Alexandria Virginia. It's one of my meditative pieces that I see fitting well in a yoga studio, business environment, or any modern home. From a distance this piece looks like nothing more than a small cool blue rectangle on a large white square and if the viewer doesn't take the time to draw closer and see the subtle depth and textural complexity they miss the surprise of getting to really absorb and enjoy the whole piece. In a way I feel like this painting, and all my similar works, are like my experience in life where people go about their day ignoring or judging others on a superficial level and by doing so they miss out on the gift of discovering all of the amazing qualities that make us the beautiful creations that we are. So, when you see this piece take a minute to enjoy its' surprising depth and character.
On October 13, 2018 I will have the opening reception for my show titled Less is More at the Arches Gallery of the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton Virginia. During this show I will be presenting many new abstract oil paintings in my unique minimalist style which embraces the concept of less is more. With these works I've continued the exploration of my core compositional elements of the bold primary color palette, geometric shapes, perpendicular lines, and grids. With my piece, A-18, I've blended these along with sharp angles and the smooth clean curve of a circle. A-18 along with A-22 and A-24 were inspired by a trip to Palm Springs California where I was able to experience its crisp clean mid-century modern architecture first-hand. There will also be an expanded series of large contemporary oil paintings where I've taken these foundational elements and brought in textured white impasto which introduces light and shadow into the composition. The end realist is a more subdued meditative minimalism. P-12, detail below, is a piece that when seen from across the room appears to be nothing more than a small blue rectangle on a white square canvas. But as you approach a whole new world of geometric shapes and perpendicular lines comes to life and changes as you move from one viewing angle to another. P-10 is another Palm Springs influenced piece that presents a similar experience to P-12 but with more vibrant colors and stronger liner elements. P-11 is a self-portrait based on a smaller work I did in 2016 that was part of my "siblings" series. The basic concept is the circle represents the person and taking the color, geometry and textural elements as one this is how I see the overall character and personality of the person. In this case that person is me. I'll also have my "family" series of small 10" by 10" pieces that depict my parents and grandparents on display. I will also have what I consider two of my iconic pieces, George and Emily, on display. The inspiration behind these two fun paintings was the various manor houses I visited, while living in the UK, and all the classic oil paintings of their previous residents. George and Emily look great hanging over my own fireplace and if your interested in them or something similar I would be happy to do a commission for you. For this show, I've added to this series of my more representational minimalistic modern oil paintings another piece called Frenchie. It was fun to make and I'm excited to share it with the public for the first time at this show. I'm looking forward to seeing you at my reception on the 13th of October from 7PM to 9PM. If you can't make it they will be on exhibit from 1 October through 3 November.
Here’s one of my pieces (titled A-8) thats been juried in to an open exhibition at The Art League in the Torpedo Factory Art Center of Old Town Alexandria Virginia. My inspiration for this painting comes from many years of living in and traveling across Europe. I think my love of everything Bauhaus and a general abstraction of geometric architechtural elements is what drew me to create A-8 and the other two paintings you see below. You can see A-8 and works of all media by the Art League artists from September 4 through October 7, 2018. I look forward to seeing you at the opening reception on Thursday, September 13, from 6:30 to 8:00pm.
This piece (Eugene) was juried into an exhibition at The Art League in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. The show runs from 7 August through 2 September 2018 and its titled "Value". The theme focuses on the fact that art represents our human values. Each piece reflects what is important in the creative life of the particular artist that produced it and that can be the essential theme in the artist's body of work.
I also submitted the two following pieces which are part of my family series of paintings. The story behind these are that the composition's geometric, textural, and color elements all combine to represents the character and personality of the family member. Eugene is my father, Marian is my mother, and Joe is my grandfather. All of these folks have played an important role in my life and creative journey. If you're interested in seeing my other family members check them out in the purchase section of my website. The opening reception will be on Thursday, 9 August 2018 from 6:30-8:00PM. Creating art is one of those things that is different for everyone. I create art for me with the intention of connecting with you.
People have asked me, “where do you get your ideas from?” Inspiration hits me all the time and the ideas just fall out of my head. Many of them never make it to the canvas but every idea is the first step towards creating that next painting. When inspiration hits me I’ll have to grab my sketchbook or a piece of paper and start drawing it out. Its a process of throwing down the initial thought, tweaking, adjusting, re-tweaking, trying another version, setting it aside, rinse, and repeat... When I was starting my artistic journey one of my Aunts, who’s an accomplished artist, said to me that art involves making a lot of decisions. At the time, I didn’t get it. Now, I do. Just getting the sketch and basic composition done is only the beginning, then there is the color palette, how the colors fit into the composition, what size canvas, does it involve impasto texture, and the list goes on. One of my goals is to make the complex look simple as everything in each of my paintings was selected for one reason or another. The overall process is very intuitive…I hope you enjoy the results. |