Kari Tirrell T oy i n g w i th P a i nt
Meyer Gallery
Kari Tirrell T o y i n g w i t h Pa i n t
No vember 17 - 3 0, 202 3
Meyer Gallery
225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.1434 800.779.7387 www.meyergalleries.com
Meyer Gallery presents its first ever exhibition for contemporary realist painter Kari Tirrell, whose work offers a humorous and whimsical take on the traditional genre of still life painting. Tirrell’s preferred subjects are antique tin toys, which she arranges in amusing situations or playful jumbles and paints with painstaking detail. Her solo exhibition is a continuation of this style with fresh, fun narratives and complex compositional arrangements. Tirrell considers her style to be a mix of portraiture and still life, as she brings out the personality of her objects and presents them with human-like conduct. This show will feature approximately 16 pieces including a series of what she calls her “line-up paintings,” in which the toys are being identified for their crimes and titled with cheeky sentiments. Illegal Alien features a Martian toy standing at attention, while Petty Theft refers to a prancing bulldog gripping a shoe in his snarl. Tirrell’s subjects are actual toys from her constantly growing collection, which she paints with meticulous accuracy in her studio. She first photographs the toys in a variety of arrangements before landing on a composition, studying the images for the desired interplay of light, shadow and color. She paints from these photos while also keeping the object in hand for close reference. The same goes for her “jumble paintings,” in which a pile of toys fills the painting surface in a seemly haphazard way. These compositions, however, are also intentionally arranged for a balanced image while presenting a playful theme. Birds of a Feather is a 24” x 30” painting that reflects this style as the centerpiece for the show, featuring a cluster of bird toys whose expressions and interactions are as captivating as the detail in which they were rendered. Tirrell is a Washington-based painter whose childhood passion and natural talent for drawing evolved into a full-time painting career as an adult. Beginning with abstraction, Tirrell eventually found a home with pastels as the perfect marriage between painting and drawing. However the archival nature of her current medium – acrylic on aluminum surfaces – has held her attention for the majority of her career, while her subject matter has found a fond collector base who appreciates her modern, light-hearted take on an age-old genre. Tirrell has received awards in regional, national and international exhibitions and competitions, and has also earned features in a variety of art publications. Southwest Art Magazine has aptly described her style as “not your grandmother’s still life,” as the artist also enjoys incorporating playful innuendos into her work, which for this show includes pieces like Makin’ Bacon. “I decided I would do still life if I could make it fun,” says Tirrell of the origin of her current style. “Amusing myself in the process is an added bonus.”
Birds of a Feather
acrylic
24 x 30
Disorderly Conduct
acrylic
24 x 18
Disturbing the Peace
acrylic
18 x 15
Fraud
acrylic
12 x 12
Illegal Alien
acrylic
20 x 16
Jailbird
acrylic
12 x 9
Makin’ Bacon
a crylic
14 x 11
Modern Family
acrylic
24 x 20
Petty Theft
ac rylic
12 x 9
Retirement Plan
acrylic
14 x 11
Snitch
acrylic
14 x 18
There Goes the Neighborhood
acrylic
12 x 24
Tin Minagerie
acrylic
24 x 36
Traffic Jam
acrylic
24 x 30
Wiener Tug
acrylic
12 x 24
Kari Tirrell T o y i n g w i t h Pa i n t Price li s t
Birds of a Feather
acrylic
24 x 30
$18,000
Disorderly Conduct
acrylic
24 x 18
$5,200
Disturbing the Peace
acrylic
18 x 15
$3,600
Fraud
acrylic
12 x 12
$2,800
Illegal Alien
acrylic
20 x 16
$4,600
Jailbird
acrylic
12 x 9
$2,600
Makin’ Bacon
acrylic
14 x 11
$2,800
Modern Family
acrylic
24 x 20
$6,900
Kari Tirrell T o y i n g w i t h Pa i n t Price li s t
Petty Theft
acrylic
12 x 9
$2,600
Retirement Plan
acrylic
14 x 11
$2,800
Snitch
acrylic
14 x 18
$4,500
There Goes the Neighborhood
acrylic
12 x 24
$4,500
Tin Menagerie
acrylic
24 x 36
$15,000
Traffic Jam
acrylic
24 x 30
$15,000
Wiener Tug
acrylic
12 x 24
$4,500
Meyer Gallery
225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.1434 800.779.7387 www.meyergalleries.com