Artwork: Damian Elwes, Picasso’s Studio (Paris, 1915), signed and dated 2016, gouache on board, 19 x 27 in.
In dream theory, it is believed that the home is the symbol of the mind, so that when you dream of being at home, you are actively engaging in a metaphorical discussion with your unconscious about your innermost state of existence. For artists, the studio is a second home; it is the place to which they escape to commune directly with their souls in order to create.
Also: The Armory Show | Mayoral Presents Miró’s Studio
Artist studios have long held fascination in the public eye, as it gives us an entrée to the place where masterpieces are born of blood, sweat, and tears—or any other alchemical mixture. Artists are sometimes among the most intrigued, wanting to see the world from the vantage point of those which they admire for their creations.
Damian Elwes, Keith Harings Studio (New York, 1988), signed and dated 2016, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 74 in.
British painter Damian Elwes (b. 1960) is one such man whose quest to engage with his favorite artists has taken shape in an incredible body of work, currently on view in New Paintings 2016 at Serena Morton Gallery, London, now through December 17, 2016.
For this exhibition, Elwes features a selection of works from his Artists Studio” series, where he adopts each artist’s highly individualized style and visual vernacular to create a portrait of the studio in which they worked at a high point in their respective careers. Elwes understands the intimate nuances of each artist’s personal language and speaks it with proper syntax, vocabulary, and accent. From Keith Haring to Willem deKooning, Alexander Calder to Henri Matisse, David Hockney to Paul Gaugin, Elwes paintings are a mystical, magical tour of rarely seen wonderlands.
Damian Elwes, Willem De Kooning’s Studio (New York, 1952), signed and dated 2016, gouache on board, 18 x 2 in
In order to recreate each studio, many of which no longer exist, Elwes meticulously researches the histories of the artists, scrutinizing dozens of photographs and literary sources, as well as paintings by the artists themselves. The result is a feeling of authenticity that works on several levels at the same time. Keith Haring’s black-and-white checkerboard linoleum tiles, feels as much like New York City in 1988 as his ubiquitous “Radiant Baby,” while Joan Miró’s Mallorca studio from 1977 looks exactly like Mayoral Gallery’s faithful representation at this year’s Armory Show.
The artist reveals, “I feel as though I am painting someone’s mind and soul as much as their physical surroundings. The way an artist places his things tells you as much about him as his painting does—these people were so visual that even the negative space [between objects] has been thought about, so what I’m doing is painting thousands of still lifes laid out for me by the most creative minds of the last century. As a painter, it’s joyful to discover frame after frame; it just amazes me that no one else has done it.”
Damian Elwes. Tranquilit, signed and date 2016, acrylic on paper, 42 x 52 in.
Alongside the “Artists Studio” series, Elwes also includes a selection from his “Goddess” series, showcasing reclining women set amid a bed of flora, inspired by the Amazonian mythology that the source of the river is a woman and all life comes from her. These works provide a serene contrast to the intense concentrated energies of the “Artists Studio,” while reminding us that the source of creation, no matter what form it takes, is one of the great mysteries that makes life worth living…for at least another day.
All artwork: © Damian Elwes, courtesy of Serena Morton Gallery, London.
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
