Hyper-realist painter Maria Teicher, featured here, likens the experience of being an artist to being in high school. As a student, she felt like an outcast who didn’t quite fit in, a “loner” forced into an artificial social dynamic. Teicher explores this theme in per paintings, which portray people in powerless moments, often wrapped in “veils” that distort their faces. Her work almost stops your breath, not only for her impressive use of the oil medium, but because you can feel the moment of constriction. For her latest body of work “Here Together, So Alone” at Arch Enemy Arts in Philadelphia, Teicher observes how we group ourselves together as humans while remaining inexplicably alone. The clear, veiled pieces that envelop her figures are meant to represent masks, which she says mirror our personalities. Sometimes, a lip, an eyelid, or article of clothing peeks through, revealing the true form that is underneath. In her show statement, Teicher says, “People are always covering pieces of themselves to be well mannered, accepted, more liked, etc. Sometimes our masks are transparent and sometimes they are more opaque. This process can be quite suffocating in certain situations.” The centerpiece of her exhibit is a piece portraying two figures wrapped by a veil; lovers slightly separated by the material that binds them and unable to fully complete their embrace. They are together, while still being alone.
Maria Teicher’s “Here Together, So Alone” is now on view at Arch Enemy Arts in Philadelphia through November 1st, 2015.
Filipino surrealist Jon Jaylo creates brilliantly colored and riddled oil paintings inspired by poetry and stories. His paintings have earned him the moniker "The Enigma" for his puzzling depictions of a parallel universe where animals wear clothes, children take on adult personas and gravity ceases to exist. Jaylo has said that he is never completely satisfied with his style, which varies from piece to piece, influenced by a range of artists like Rene Magritte, Paul Delvaux, Gustav Klimt, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, and William Bougereau. Opening September 12th, Jaylo will make his US debut with his solo exhibition "As the Moon Draws Water" at Distinction Gallery in California.
Cuban artist Alan Manuel Gonzalez once found it inconceivable to be showing his art outside of Cuba. He has described his paintings as the result of the inescapable circumstance of being created there. Today, censorship in Cuba is the most intense in the western hemisphere. Gonzalez relies on the use of metaphor and surrealism to express both his love for his country and disdain for its problems.
Oil painter and performance artist John Robinson crafts cerebral, wistful, and, at times, humorous self-portraits. His works, often rendered in monochromatic tones, sees the artist donning masks and contraptions that speaks to his current reflections. Elsewhere, he re-imagines moments of art history through his distinct filter.