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[tp to 30 worhs on sltow December 3 tkm 14, ?*S5 Track 16 / Arcadia Gallery 252i Michigan Ave Bldg. C- l
MarcoLM Lrcrxs
S*nta Xvlonica, CA 9{}4S4 i31s) 264-467s . {21?} 96:-13s?
Liepke paints the simple truths that make us human. .1ft nce a vear. Arcadie Gall.ry J 1.r,u.., Ste'e Diamant re.ts oul a gallery in Los A'rgeles' Bergamot \J Station and puts on a shorv for noted fie-
urative paintel Malcolm Liepke. This
year, the exhibition will be at the 'liack 16 gallery space and Liepke has cor.r.rpleted 30 nerv paintings for the shou'.
"I generally do 1arge, one-man
shorvs
but this new venue ivill give tne a chance to reach out to new collectors and shorv them work they haven't seen beFore," savs Liepke, who currently resides in Minneapolis. "L.r this shorv, I'll include more of a mix of r'vork, but mainll. rr-r1' paintings that present an emotional quality to the viervers." \X/hile Diamant's Arcadia gallerl, is located in Ne',v York Cit1., he has for-rnd that Liepke's r.vork has always had a certain appeal in Hollni'ood as rvell as tl.re fashion communitl,. Ralph Lauren has beer.r a big collector of Liepke's rvork as has Barbara Streisand
in the past
and Dor-rna Karan. In facr, Karan based her 2002 fall cor-rture line and aclr'ertising campaign or.r Liepke's paintir.rgs. as a thank you to Liepke, Karan held an exhibition of his pair.rtir.rss ir.l her Neri York Mrdison Avenue .role to qi\e people an idea ofrvhere here inspiration
And,
carne from.
"lt
r,vas
a big complirnenr fbr me,"
says Liepke. "The Fall catalosue was set up as imitations of the pair.rtings, she had
the models look like thc figures in tl.re work ar.rd the clothes rvere similar fashior.rs and designs that I put in the pair.rtir.rgs. And the special shorv at the Madison Avenue shop really joined fashion together with the paintir-rgs."
\(hile most
people are drarvn to
Liepke's canvases because ofthe figures he
places
in
them and the emotions they
NapprNc \?rrH THE Car, oIr ()\ c.\\\AS. ri r
18"
C$râ‚Źâ‚Źr 7lrwing Point . . . "I worked for ten years as an illustrator but I got tired of the compromise, not being able to control the work, so I started to do fine art. My first show was successful and I just kept building on that. And my subject matter has evolved as well, there was not a huge eureka moment. Even when the subject matter was a little different, it was always rccogtlizable as my style."
{;all*ry
.". "Malcolm Liepke is, without a doubt, one of this country's most influential painters. In any given art magazine, one can see a slew of painters who have obviously been "influenced" by the Liepke style of painting. And not only are his works influencing other painters, but fashion designers, photographers and many other creative types have been moved by an utilize Liepket palette, use of patterns and fabrics and deeply intimate and emotional works.'' T'he
Says
-Steve
{.}iaruant, l)irecror, Arcac{itt {iallerx'
convey, he states that he does not paint using live models
and all of the figures in his paintings come straight from his imagination. "I find it hard to rvork u.ith models," says Liepke. "So, most of rvhat I do is made up. I start rvith thumbnail sketches rvhich are just basicalll. abstract composi-
tions, blocks patterns, and then
I think
about models
that will fit into the compositions. It's a rvay oF creating my own reality." Coliectors keep coming back to Liepke's rvork because
of the stror-rg emotional content the figures in
these
paintings are able to conve)1
"People connect rvith
"vork
that has a
strong
emotional qualitl. to them," says Liepke. "lt has to speak to them. And I paint people, that's what I do, I don't pair.rt cars or landscapes or still lifes. I rvant that emotional connection and in the end that tends to gravitate torvards depicting people."
And for Liepke, this emotional content that most people relate to is, in the end, a yeaming to understand the simple truths that make us human. "Tiuth speaks dorvn from the ages," says Liepke. 'And, itt the same rvitl.r art, peoplc like it because it allows them to feel more human and less alone, it's a connection that e\reryone has. The look in people's faces in the work arrempts to do this, to strikc that human chord. Al1 art is able to achieve this, if it is done right, an abiliry to connect to something bigger than yor-rrself."
This is also why Liepke has
alr,vays beer.r
a
keen
student ofhistory and classical painting. "I love great drawing, greirt painting," says Liepke. "l love I9th century painting with the great brushstrokes ar.rd great drarving ability. It's the classical craft of painting that is mosr important, and if you're going to bc a figr-rre painting, you have to know how to draw and paint pretty s,ell. You can't hide bad drawing." o
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