For the majority of his career, Damian Elwes has painted the studios of other artists, breaking new ground in the psychological understanding of these artists through the investigation of their most private spaces. His highly researched pieces not only serve as visual documents of these inner sanctums – some of which have been lost to history – but also capture the sublimity of the creative experience, proving that genius can be born from any environment.
Read MoreThe Santa Monica-based, British artist began his career in style – having met Keith Haring on the streets of New York the renowned pop artist convinced him to take up graffiti as a means of daily painting. Elwes recalls, "In New York City, it was the early eighties, and there was graffiti everywhere. We would see a drawing by Basquiat one day and a few days later so many artists would have added to it. Everyone had been saying how painting was dead because of Duchamp, but here one could see that it was very much alive." Fittingly Elwes exhibited his first paintings in Edinburgh in 1984, alongside works by both Haring and Basquiat.
Elwes's early experiences of painting contemporary artists' studios in Paris led him to see the figure of the artist through his or her belongings, with their specific arrangements able to be understood as idiosyncratic clues towards their personalities, moods and practices. Elwes is meticulous in his research, and when the dawn of the internet provided open access to archival material he viewed this wealth of information as pieces to puzzle together in search of complete representations of each studio space, and therefore the artist.
Personal connections to Haring and Basquiat have led him to capture their studios several times, but other artists like Picasso and Matisse also offer Elwes many facets of their practice and personalities to explore through their multiple studio spaces. No matter the history, Elwes approaches his work intimately. By their very nature his paintings are embedded with a level of familiarity, taking on an anecdotal significance akin to memories being passed from friend to friend.
These paintings are often rendered through subtle stylistic nods to the aesthetic of the artist in question, imbuing the image of the studio with the energy of its absent inhabitant. The viewer therefore becomes part of a specific art historical moment, experiencing the stark minimalism of Georgia O'Keeffe's uncluttered living room or feeling the sea breeze waft through the windows of Matisse's Mediterranean coastal studio. Elwes punctuates his works with recreations of seminal artworks, lending his paintings a richly layered presence. Stylistic homages to a plethora of artistic greats seep into Elwes' own work, yet he strikes a singular balance in learning from his aesthetic influences while simultaneously creating an independent and unique body of work.
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