New oil painting night scene Houston

Artist Statement/Biography made recently

ARTIST STATEMENT/BIOGRAPHY

Although some of my pieces seem to be surrealist, they were not in- tended that way. I am influenced by such painters but not a disciple. I started painting in the late nineties and began visiting museums in different cities and studying modern painters. When someone recommended a book about abstract expressionism, it gave me ideas for some of the pain-free painting that I wanted to do. On a 2007 trip to the MOMA in New York, I was able to see such art and more. It probably helped me start a series of dark-background pieces, with plays of shades and light colors.

The abstract ‘night glow’ pieces came to me from a red LED light switch causing a glow on a room ceiling. A dark shadow from furniture made a glowing halo of red light along the lines. Other light sources like morning light coming through curtains made appearances on walls. These representational reflections were shapes that could be re-arranged giving plenty of options for abstract images based on something seen. You can see room walls and ceilings as a result in some of the paintings.

My more representational works attempt to re-create the real but filter out what is there and show it in simpler elements. Details can become shapes, colors and patterns while representing a real object simultaneously. I have done hay rolls in fields series, imaginary landscapes and sometimes simple subjects like a house or boat where parts become abstract. I enjoy the act of smearing paint on a medium and not always knowing what is going to come out. I have taken pictures (sometimes with a cellphone) from my car at night at stoplights and found subjects for painting. I find city streets and lights more pleasant to look at during the night than the day.
I am interested in art that represents the time we live in. We have been bombarded with so much technology that most people are numb to it.

Artists seem to be immune to these technological extensions and notice what is at hand. That is why I like modern and post-modern art because it attempts to make sense of our mechanized world.
I was in the Navy for six years, then did some photofinishing followed by some electrical drafting years. Movies have always been a big part of my life and I earned a Radio-TV-Film degree from University of Texas in 1985. I am also an accomplished clarinetist playing in two local groups.

Glenn Mondshine