Gary-Paul Prince Painting

Painting

Drawing and painting are the science of my creative experience and my primary focus, although sometimes strayed by sculpture and new media, has always been to practice the art of painting. The great masters: Leonardo, Rembrandt, Carravaggio and others have always been my heroes since childhood. From the very first time I visited a museum and gazed upon a rendition of the human figure I was in awe of the rosey cheeks that were but a brush stroke of cadmium red and yet they were to my eyes soft supple flesh with blood coursing through them.

The magic to create illusion with pigment and mineral spirits is the foundation from which we artists create a believable world. This illusion along with understanding form the alchemical elements of the language of art. For my part, this practice and understanding are philosophical, mystical and also practical.

The included works are a selection from various continuing series: Modern Primitive, Saint and Paintings for the Chuirch Series, East Oakland, and Apocalypse. Also pictured are one-offs that I paint concurrent while working on a series. Short explications are included to give you insight to my thought process and subject matter.

The Modern Primitive series originally began with the first piece completed in 1990. The focus of subject matter is that of people with tattoos, piercings or body modifications. Although some of my models were already modified there are some that I have embellished. I believe in the future everyone will have a modification of some sort.

Some of the pieces in the Modern Primitive series overlap with my Saints and Works for the Church series. This paintings are reinterpretations of the religous genre in homage to the masters who so eloquently painted for the Catholic church during the byzantine through renaissance periods.

In a retelling of the story of Virgin she is portrayed as a woman decorated with a lip piercing, necklace and rings. Solemn and pensive her aura is not visilble as an iconic decoration but through a pose of the human condition of frailty and naturism.

Guns guns guns! La Senorita Fatal displays a twist on the latin American notion of machoism. Not only inherent in men but also women who can be "bad" all on thier own. From rage in a fit of passion to courage like liberty, my goal was to encapsulate the essence of this quality .

Paintings of the Apocalypse: The majority of the works are based on a figure landscape composition because the notion of decay is tied to the earth and our relationship to it. This series is presented in retrospect as it has no new editions in the last few years.

The process of compostion for me is synonomous to that of an opera. A theatrical event that includes set, casting and actors performance. Likewise music and litearture are inspiration for some paintings. "Grace before meat" is inspired by the writings of the late poet and essayist Charles Lamb alias Elia who also wrote with his sister Mary Lamb.

"Deus Ex Machina" speaks of a future decay of the environment brought on by mechanized technology. The figure sits as "Percival the Foo"l from grail lore ...naked and alone, innocent and ignorant awaiting an uncertain destiny.