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Contemporary figure painting12/3/2023 ![]() Greg Thompson, Greg Thomspon Fine Art, Little Rock, AR You can keep going back to it and continue to “read” a painting.” You can keep returning to it and keep reading new chapters. I explain to people who come in the gallery that figurative work is like a great book. “Figurative work is what I collect myself. ![]() The couple shares a studio and models and it is always to interesting to see the similarities and the differences in their work that comes from working in a shared space.” We have a show coming up in November for artists Sara and Shane Scribner. “Ellen Heck is a printmaker whose figurative work is mostly children – she captures adolescence in a such a beautiful way. We see his work influencing so many emerging figurative artists.” I’ve always enjoyed Lu Cong’s work and the work of Kris Lewis – both have haunting qualities. ![]() His figures are definitely not about specific people. Elizabeth Chapin’s use of color and line – it is really about how she paints more than what she is painting. His work has anthropamorphic qualities that he uses to bring a narrative to each painting. Who are some of your favorite figure painters working today? The painting is also about what the viewer brings to it.” I hope that people look at figurative work and see something that reminds them of something in their life. But a figure painting is not neccessarily about the person and who it is, it is about an idea and what an artist is trying to say. “To me a portrait is about who the person is…for example in a traditional portrait, there might be objects that connect with the person, that are meaningful and define the person. What is the difference between a figure painting and a portrait? So we talk with customers about the difference between a figure painting and a portrait.” They sometimes wonder why they would hang a painting of someone they don’t know in their house…but they are thinking more of portraiture. There is also sometimes a barrier with new collectors when they don’t know the person in the painting. So that is one barrier…accepting a figure that is not idealized. People have an expectation of what men and women should look like…some people bring to the painting an idealized version in their minds of what they want to see in a figure. There are some barriers with figurative work like cultural stereotypes. “I do think there is a strong collector’s market for figurative work. What are the challenges in selling figurative work? Is there a strong collector’s market for figurative work? Rachel Stephens, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, TX Here are the notes from the insightful talks. Plus, I don’t want this post to be too terribly long. Of course there are many more galleries I could call but after four conversations, I see patterns of information emerging and feel I’ve learned what I set out to learn. ![]() But how about some old fashioned one-on-one conversations? I am extremely grateful to the following galleries for accepting my calls and for taking the time to talk. Why not call some of my favorite galleries and ask the owners the questions I ponder? We can learn so much through online research, by visiting galleries, or by finding incredible artists on Instagram. In an attempt to learn more about figurative painting, I concocted an idea. ![]()
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