The acrylic paintings of Olan Ventura reference the still-life paintings of the Old Masters, yet take a contemporary turn in conveying what only appear to be printing errors that run hues off the canvas. While conveying “glitches” with paint can be found in the practices of contemporaries, Venture is able to navigate both ends of time in his faithful recreations.
Blending two- and three-dimensional forms, Mark Whalen creates cerebral and absurd arrangements of the human body. Whether stacking vibrant heads or using sculpted hands to sculpt the very shapes of canvases, there’s a metatextual component in tackling the act of creating art itself.
The acrylic paintings and drawings of Cristòfol Pons are visions of converging realities: past and future, art history and something otherworldly. His characters and visual motifs, though consistent throughout his work, point in varying directions. As he’s said, “The present is just a moment that vanishes at every step, the past is a blurry haze and future a horizon longing to fade.” He will at times point to the recognizable, perhaps a piece by Jeff Koons or a historical icon, yet only as a point of entry into something else entirely.
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.
Pulling single word statements from her Instagram account, Diana Georgie creates jarring, sometimes humorous, and contemplative juxtapositions against floral backdrops. The acrylic paintings are deceptively simple in their approach, yet with these brief statements, she’s able to both dismantle and examine the intentions of those who used the words. She shows these paintings in a new show at Gallery 30 South in a new show, “Pleasure Paradox,” running through Feb. 28.
Ronch, a self-described “punk surrealistic painter,” blends urban and fantastical imagery for hyperdetailed acrylic paintings. The artist cites influences as varied as “Leonardo to The Clash, Brueghel, Dali, from Bosch to the Dead Kennedys.” The artist is currently based in London, and originally hails from Italy.