Booth P33
Sebastian Gladstone is thrilled to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by LA-based artist Chad Murray at the Armory Show. In his new body of work, Murray furthers his traditionalist approach to the medium of oil painting with pictures that are equally timeless and hyper-contemporary. Scenes of storms, open fields, and blazes place the viewer at the pinnacle of the image, almost as if one is within the scene itself. Upon first impressions the works seem Turneresque, evoking the turn of the 19th century, yet a closer examination reveals that none of these works could be created without the use of photography. Through their precise detail and seemingly split-second compositions, Murray’s paintings place the viewer at the intersection of the sublime power of nature paired with the alchemic power of paint to transform a flat surface. Similar to Turner, Murray’s paintings push the boundaries of a representational image into abstraction. Many of the compositional choices, color palettes, and rendering techniques lead the image towards a pure viewing experience in which the trees, mountains and grass fade, while stunning hues and wisps of paint come to the foreground.
