Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Daniel Adel’s Fantastical Paintings of Sculptures Draped in Cloth

Daniel Adel has a particular fascination with drapery that he expresses in his dynamic oil paintings of sculptures wrapped in cloth. Working out of his studio in the village of Lourmarin in Provence, France, Adel creates his fantastical visions of drapery, where the folds of cloth seem to defy gravity as they wrap around classical-shaped busts. The depiction of drapery throughout history has been used to emphasize the contours of the human figure, especially in Greek Art, where it suggested lines of force and indicated the past and future actions of the figures it clings to.

Daniel Adel has a particular fascination with drapery that he expresses in his dynamic oil paintings of sculptures wrapped in cloth. Working out of his studio in the village of Lourmarin in Provence, France, Adel creates his fantastical visions of drapery, where the folds of cloth seem to defy gravity as they wrap around classical-shaped busts. The depiction of drapery throughout history has been used to emphasize the contours of the human figure, especially in Greek Art, where it suggested lines of force and indicated the past and future actions of the figures it clings to. Perhaps one of the best known examples is the 2nd century BC Greek marble sculpture Winged Victory of Samothrace of Greek goddess Nike (Victory). With this in mind, the inanimate objects of Adel’s paintings seem to come to life, as if they were moving themselves throughout the picture in a perpetual motion. Though Adel renders his subjects with a believable realism that feels natural, his representation of these objects is entirely surrealistic, conveying the sense of action and triumph embodied by those ancient sculptures. Adel once said that his paintings tap into what he is instinctively drawn to and loves to look at, and with each piece, he tries to find a way to transform that into something nobody has seen before. He is currently exhibiting new works at the LA Art Show fair in Los Angeles through January 31st, 2016.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
"All people- and nature itself- have distinctive layers," says Pittsburgh based painter Mara Light. Teetering between a classical sense of realism and abstraction, her textured oil paintings aim to explore the layers of ourselves that we show and the others we hide within. Her subject matter is almost always women, whose emotions permeate the surface of her work's repetitive layering, scrapes, tears and drips of turpentine over certain areas, a process she enjoys for its unpredictable nature. For her current series, titled "Beneath the Surface," she sees her artistic explorations as more than a way to add visual interest to her work, but also as a metaphor for her personal experiences.
Figurative painter Carl Dobsky creates oil paintings that acknowledge both the history of the form and the contemporary. The narrative work, in particular, reveals just flashes of magic hidden in his dramatic, realistic scenes. The butterflies in "Ship of Fools" is one example of this, as the periled occupants of a small vessel attempt to survive. The enormous piece took a year to complete.
In Kevin Peterson’s new show at Thinkspace Projects, child subjects are paired with sentient animals, unlikely castaways against desolate urban backdrops. "Wild," collecting new vivid paintings from the artist, show these subjects “interchangeably as beacons of hope and symbols of dispossession.” The show runs March 2 through March 23. (Peterson was last featured on HiFructose.com here.)
Leon Keer’s realistic paintings toy with depth, each a startling, larger-than-life recreation. In recent gallery work, the artist’s pieces take a nostalgic, and at times, playful turn. Yet, within the oversized Matchbox car and playful Gummy bear-packed Vicodin box, there are deeper perspectives being shared. The artist's practice includes both street work and more traditional settings.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List