Justin Wood & Kenny Harris

  • Justin Wood (1982) is a figurative and still life painter originating from Doylestown, Pennsylvania but curently living and working in...

    Justin Wood (1982) is a figurative and still life painter originating from Doylestown, Pennsylvania but curently living and working in New York. He is interested in traditional techniques and genres and studied art in the tradition of the old masters, such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Starting from a young age he started to draw, after which, at high school, he switched to painting.

      “The drama and mood from the colors and objects are what is interesting to me,” he says. “Exploring what I can do with similar objects to what the masters used and re-creating light and shadow are crucial to my work.”

    His paintings often feature realistic food and drink against dark backgrounds; partially peeled lemons, grapes, cheeses, crusty bread, and glasses. “There is not a lot of symbolism behind the paintings,” he says. “To me, it is straightforward.”

    After finishing his studies, Wood became a teacher at the Grand Central Academy, teaching in drawing to examples of sculptures.  

  • Kenny Harris’ new paintings evoke the light and mood of intimate spaces and still lifes from his travels. He is...

    Kenny Harris’ new paintings evoke the light and mood of intimate spaces and still lifes from his travels.  He is fascinated with subtle light effects and expressive painterly surfaces, focusing on interiors or cityscapes.  His dynamic paint application describes the way light pours through a space, with scrapes and impasto embodying the texture of the surfaces depicted.  The paint itself becomes plaster and wood, a glint of light reflecting, or a dull sheen on a surface worn smooth with age. 

     

    The interiors for this body of work are mainly from a trip to Eastern Europe in 2019, as well as a few images from his home of Los Angeles. One breakfast at an artist’s bohemian flat in St. Petersburg was particularly inspiring. Harris has been traveling and painting for many years, and this body of work is a continuation of this interest in spaces—grand or mundane—that capture his eye for light and texture.

  • Kenny Harris (1974) has been a fixture in the Los Angeles art scene since arriving in Venice Beach in 2001. He has made a career out of describing his environment both at home and abroad. He has traveled around the world depicting subject matter both grand and mundane.  Drawn to quiet subjects, his muted palette and spare spaces evoke a calming energy.

     

  • “My hope with these pictures was to transform paint on a flat surface into real physical things expressed and arranged in a way that is beautiful.”

  • Kenny Harris about Justin Wood:

    Justin Wood is an outstanding painter, and I am glad we are getting to show together.  Though our techniques differ, we share that affinity for “The Art of Describing” of Dutch Still Life and Genre Painting of the 17th century.  He really is carrying on that classical tradition at the highest level.  His skills with light, composition, and surface are exemplary.     We both delight in the paint itself, and I hope the exhibition will prove an interesting pairing of two artists carrying on past traditions in their own way.  

  • My paintings are about light and space, and I am compelled to create spaces where the viewer is invited in, to create their own narrative.  As such, my paintings are almost always devoid of people—a conspicuously empty place.  I hope the work will resonate with the viewer as a reminder of the strange and beautiful world we inhabit—the mysterious everyday.

     

    Kenny Harris

    Venice Beach, CA

  • Justin Wood (1982) is a painter originating from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He is interested in traditional techniques and genres. Starting from a young age he started to draw, after which, at high school, he switched to painting. Wood studied at the University of Syracuse, where he followed an education to become an illustrator among the respected illustrators Murray Tinkelman and John Thompson. During his studies at the university he took lessons in figure drawing by the figurative artist Jerome Witkin. In this time, Wood acquired knowledge of the history of classical painting. This experience had the effect that Wood changed his focus to the fine arts.

  • Justin Wood & Kenny Harris

    On view @ Galerie Mokum May 27 - June 25