New York City, NY -- Louis K. Meisel Gallery is pleased to announce Aesthetic Kick, an exhibition of recent paintings by renowned Photorealist painter Raphaella Spence. The only major female Photorealist, Spence is noted for her exquisitely detailed brushwork and the smooth, unblemished surface of her canvases. Born in London, Spence spent her childhood in England, France and Italy, and ultimately made the region of Umbria her home; today, it is from her Italian threshold that her paintings arise.
Spence’s first exhibition with Meisel Gallery occurred over two decades ago, and the show featured highly detailed, bucolic landscapes. Like many of her Photorealist peers, she soon turned her eye and her camera to the urban environment. Each of her paintings begins with a highly detailed digital photograph, which she sees as the contemporary version of 19th century artist sketches. She spends weeks and months replicating the visual information captured in the photograph, while bringing to the work the feelings and emotions that inspired it. Viewed up close, we are awed by the artistic skill and perfection of the minutest details, but as we step back, it is the overall aura of the painted scene that entrances us.
Many of her works over the decades have been inspired by the ancient monuments and vistas of her adoptive country. In Roma and Il Destino Spence deftly uses The Bridge of Angels, with Bernini’s sculpted angels spaced on columns along the railing, to lead our eye into canvas. In Roma, the bridge and the monument behind it are mirrored in the still water lending a contemplative tone. Clouds gather above and, as in so many of her works, the dramatic sky infuses the canvas with an artistic and dramatic tension.
Recently Spence has been revisiting landscape, turning her eye to the trees of the surrounding forest. Her earlier landscapes invited us to savor the peaceful setting. These new works are often challenging close-ups. The trees assert their presence with their gnarly trunks and ridged bark, enhanced by the high contrast of sun and shadow or, as in Night Scene, by the intensely blue evening sky.
Aesthetic Kick brings together both bodies of work, juxtaposing the raw beauty and power of nature against the work of man. While seemingly disparate, Spence’s paintings engage in a dialogue that is surprisingly complementary. Raphaella Spence: Aesthetic Kick is on display at 141 Prince Street, New York, NY from 1 October to 5 November with an Opening Reception on October 8, 12-4 pm. For more information, please contact the Louis K. Meisel Gallery at [email protected].
