Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Oliver Vernon’s New Body of Work Moves Away from Collage

In Oliver Vernon's new abstract works at an upcoming KIRK Gallery show, the artist abandons collage entirely and pushes his work forward only using acrylics. "Brushing Away the Veil," starting on Nov. 2, represents a new body of work and direction for the Brooklynite. There’s another new component to the works, as well, as Vernon says “is the excavation of buried paint layers through sanding. Since many of these pieces have had numerous stages of accumulation, they were like gold mines of hidden color.”

In Oliver Vernon’s new abstract works at an upcoming KIRK Gallery show, the artist abandons collage entirely and pushes his work forward only using acrylics. “Brushing Away the Veil,” starting on Nov. 2, represents a new body of work and direction for the Brooklynite. There’s another new component to the works, as well, as Vernon says “is the excavation of buried paint layers through sanding. Since many of these pieces have had numerous stages of accumulation, they were like gold mines of hidden color.” Vernon, as seen below, was the cover artist for Hi-Fructose Vol. 17


Vernon offers some insight into how his process has changed. “This body of work was a return to direct painting after years of using collage as a means to deliver paint to surface,” the artist says. “Priorly I was painting on large rolls of paper as a starting point, to enable a sense of freedom of loose paint handling without needing to know how it would fit into the eventual compositions. The paper was then ripped and torn into fragments which were then recomposed onto panel. This allowed me to find new types of juxtapositions of color and form outside of my habitual tendencies, which fulfilled a need to plow into uncharted visual territory. I adhered to this method so as to develop a consistent new language. As satisfying as it was, there was a building desire to return to direct painting, and then finally for this show I abandoned the collage process altogether.”

See more works from the show on the gallery’s site and the artist’s own page.


Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Nicola Caredda’s dreamlike acrylic paintings blend eroded landscapes and structures, playful bits of pop culture and mystical iconography. Each’s vague narrative appears to be ripped from the subconscious.

John Greenwood

In a new show at Arthouse1 London, the artistic element of light is explored through a collection of artists who utilize the source in different ways. "The Sky's Gone Out" features the work of Vasilis Avramidis, Gordon Cheung, Sean Dawson, Bella Easton, John Greenwood, Chris Hawtin, Rui Matsunaga, John Stark and Mimei Thompson. (The show was curated by Easton and Hawtin.)
Whether it’s her massive work “Catsquatch” or her "Mirror Constructs" series, painter Shyama Golden’s work is both experimental and at times, humorous. The artist has both fine art and illustration practices. Yet, even within her gallery work are varying approaches, ranging from the mythological to portraiture.
Hazy figures walk towards the viewer in John Wentz's new series of oil paintings, their faces muddled as if conjured from some distant memory or last night's dream. His solo show "Passages," opening alongside Mike Davis's "A Blind Man's Journey" (see our recent studio visit with Davis here), is set to debut at San Francisco's 111 Minna Gallery on October 3. Wentz's work is optimally experienced in person. Playing with new textures, he steers his figurative paintings further into abstract territory, breaking down bodies into their basic components and exaggerating the ways light dances on them. Wentz deliberately calls attention to the paint itself, allowing pigments to bubble and burst and scraping away fine lines with a pencil. The results are disorienting and poignant, reminding us of the ways our own memories can be distorted and altered.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List