SHERRY KARVER
S UE GREENWOOD FINE ART 330 north coast hwy laguna beach, ca 92651 SGFA suegreenwoodfineart.com 949.494.0669
Word On the Street M ay 2 0 – Ju l y 1 0
Sherry Karver My current series of photo-based work originates from photographs I have taken on city streets in Paris, London, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and at Grand Central Terminal. I am expanding and shifting the parameters of traditional painting & photography by combining them with digital technology, narrative text, and resin surface on wood panels. By blending these mediums, it enables me to push beyond their conventional boundaries to create a new hybrid. These are one-of-a-kind works, not photo editions. I have always lived in large cities, so my work is informed by the multitude of issues we encounter living in a metropolitan area: loneliness and alienation in our fast-paced society, the concept of personal identity and the loss of it, the passage of time, the individual as part of the crowd, and how we can stand out from the ‘sea of sameness’, since we each have our own unique voices and stories to tell. Around 2000 I began writing text over some of the figures in my photos in an attempt to personalize or individualize them, and make them stand out from the crowd. These brief stories about the people are from my imagination, based solely on their appearance or stance. By using text in my work, it adds another layer, and gives the viewer a chance to “experience” the artwork, and become part of the process by reading it. There is a light humor to my work but I ask the spectator to go further and deeper. I want them to dissolve the narrative and address the experience. I superimpose these “biographies” on top of the individuals, almost as if they are wearing their stories like an article of clothing. I try to give a little bit of history about the person; where they are from, their age, what they do, their hopes, their dreams, and often something embarrassing or personal that they would rather not have revealed.
Cover Image Detail
In my work the documentary nature of the B&W photograph merges with the painterly qualities of oil, establishing a dialogue between the two. I mount my black & white images on top of 2 5/8” deep wood panels, and hand paint them with numerous layers of oil glazes to build up the color, combining the old master technique of glazing with contemporary photo/digital technology. The final surface has a UV resin coating. – Sherry Karver
Cover:The Appropriation of Graffiti, 2015, 30" x 40" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $8,600
New Paintings by
S h e r r y K a r ve r Wo r d O n t h e S t r e e t May 20 – July 10, 2015 Opening Reception First Thursday June 4 6–9 PM
SGFA S U E G R E E N WO O D F I N E A R T 330 north coast hwy laguna beach, ca 92651 949.494.0669
suegreenwoodfineart.com
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Walking In the Slanted Light, 2015 30" x 40" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $8,600
Imagination, 2015 20" x 20" photo Images, oil, narrative text, glitter and resin on wood panel $3,600
Lingering Observations, 2014 40" x 20" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $7,200
Twenty to One, 2015 30" x 40" photo images, oil, narrative text, glitter, and resin on wood panel $8,600
Harmony Of Strangers, 2015 32" x 32" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $7,500
News of the Future, 2015 32" x 32" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $7,500
Collective Mythologies, 2015 36" x 42" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $11,000
Lovers, Anarchists and One Lost Soul, 2015 44" x 24" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $8,200
Just a Narrow Bridge, 2015 40" x 20" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $7,200
Now Boarding Track 11, 2015 24" x 24" photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin on wood panel $5,200