Gregory Thielker
Hey, do you like taking photos through rainy windows? Me too.
But wait… these aren’t photos – they’re oil paintings.
Okay, paintings of photos, but still: mind=blown.
These paintings are part of an ongoing series, “Under the Unminding Sky” by Gregory Thielker, a US artist / art instructor / lecturer/ world traveller / raconteur. All are oil on linen, and are mostly 3×4′. There’s something reminiscent of Gerhard Richter about them in a strictly visual sense, but the American obsession with automobile culture & the open road seems to be more of an underpinning theme than anything Richter covers. Not that I’m complaining, this series resonates with me a lot – and not just because I like to take pictures through rainy windows.
These paintings reflect my interest in the way that the road delineates and controls how we experience landscape. From the roadway perspective, we not only travel from one place to another, we see landscape in a varied and complex manner. I use water on the windshield to create a shifting lens for the way we see the environment: it both highlights and obscures our viewing. Perspectives slip and compress, while shapes and colors merge into one another. I also work with relationships between surface and depth, between flatness and illusion. These images are born out of real experience and have a close relationship with the medium of painting: its fluidity, transparency, and capacity for layering, mixing, and blending.
– from gregorythielker.com
I agree, the skills are amazing … but my question is, what’s the point? I guess he’s free to occupy his time however he likes, but as the observer my reaction to the image itself isn’t changed by the fact that it was painted. For me it would be the same looking at the original photo he copied from, especially knowing that he’s done them in standard photo size. Perhaps seeing them in person would change that. I just see so much effort and not much gain.
Great blog btw Ian, very interesting!
Did I REALLY say 3×4″ ? Oops, that’s my Spinal Tap moment… I meant 3×4′. How embarrassing!
That aside, I get what you’re saying about the process, but that gets into a whole “what is the meaning and purpose of art” discussion which is a real can of worms. There are certainly any number of theories. Personally, I like the idea that while an artist’s intent is important, the viewer can have a relationship with an art object without this foreknowledge based upon their own experiences, tastes, and understanding of how this art object is positioned as art in a meaningful context. Within this perspective, Thielker’s work speaks to me as subject matter and on a craft level, and that’s sufficient to my way of thinking about art.
In any case, after reading your comment, I’ve edited the original post to add a statement from the artist as his intent may help people understand what the point of it all is. Thanks for your input!
heh glol :)
The size of the pictures doesn’t really change my argument much, but I guess if I could have an original on my wall I’d enjoy knowing that it looks like a photo until you get up close and realise the effort and skill that went into it. And they’re certainly great images, regardless of the medium.