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Portrait

Posted on April 06 2016

Portrait
April 22nd - June 18th
Lauren Rinaldi • Buddy Nestor • Jean-Paul Mallozzi • Jason Andrew Turner • Jason Chen

Opening Reception: Friday, April 22nd • 5:30 - 10:00pm

Gallery Open Hours:
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays • 12:00pm – 6:00pm
And 7 days a week by appointment: info@paradigm-gallery.com / (267)266-0073

Closing Reception: Friday, May 27th • 5:30pm - 10:00pm

Paradigm Gallery + Studio
746 S. 4th Street • Philadelphia, PA 19147
www.ParadigmArts.org • @ParadigmGS

Social Media
Instagram: @ParadigmGS
Twitter: @ParadigmGS
Tumblr: paradigm-gallery.tumblr.com
Facebook: facebook.com/paradigmgallery


ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The connection between you and the portrait is a personal one. What is a portrait, after all, but a story of another, guided through interpretation. It represents an ideal that the power of portraiture in a gifted artist’s hand can impose constraint on a moment of fragility. The magic is that, real or imagined, the subject of the portrait is the real author of the story, yet perhaps not of their faces. 

"Portrait" will explore how 5 different artists chose to define their subjects. Jason Andrew Turner’s drawn faces will gaze directly at you – defiantly inviting you in; while Jean-Paul Mallozzi's distinct portraits haunt and hide behind their psyches. Lauren Rinaldi’s sketches are delicate and subtle searches into her subjects’ vulnerability. Jason Chen’s photographs capture decisive moments that trail off into larger stories. And Buddy Nestor’s eerie portrayals seem to dissolve the essence of the subject into a surreal side of their humanity.

We spend so much time studying the portrait -- locking eyes, visually reaching for some shared connection to this emotionally charged version of a person. Yet, the artist search to capture the essence of that moment traps us in a complicated game of altered perceptions – people as they wish to be seen versus how they are seen.

This band of storytellers know how to penetrate to the core of their subjects. But there’s still something vaguely lonesome about an image needing a viewer to tell its story to - this need we have to preserve in preparation of an absence.

Perhaps the beauty of it, this fascination with a most basic artistic form of communication, is that we are always searching for the soul of it – for the rest of the story – and we hope that gives permanence to these moments of truth.

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

LAUREN RINALDI // Lauren Rinaldi works using unbiased portraits of women’s bodies as a vehicle to explore ideas about body image, sexuality and self-Identity and is often informed by her own personal narrative. Her paintings and drawings are meant to inhabit the space where the line between sexual empowerment and objectification is blurred. She aims to find connections in the new language we’ve patterned off of our need to flaunt the personal assessment of our bodies within the realm of our day-to-day digital landscapes and to observe the nature of women seeking affirmation under the guise of anonymity.

Lauren is originally from Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in Painting from Tyler School of Art in 2006. She is a painter, illustrator and has worked on projects with The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. She is represented by Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She currently resides in Philadelphia with her husband and son.

BUDDY NESTOR // Buddy was born and raised in Collingswood, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a Latch-Key Kid during the birth of cable TV. This led to endless hours in front of the television, watching movies and drawing. He gravitated toward strange cult and horror films. As a skateboarder in the late 80’s and early 90’s, he was exposed to Punk, Indie, and Heavy Metal music. In 1997, after the birth of his son, Buddy decided to teach himself to paint. In 1999, he traveled around the world on an aircraft carrier and painted every day. This was critical in his development as an artist. Presently, he drinks beer and paints in his basement. 

My latest series of paintings are portraits of female artists. These physical and psychological images are my attempt to capture the true nature of humanity. They are spiritual X-Rays. The models that I use in my work are all beautiful women. However, there is nothing beautiful about the portraits I create.

JEAN-PAUL MALLOZZI // Jean-Paul Mallozzi was born and raised in Queens NYC, and received a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School Of Design (RISD). He graduated with B.F.A in Illustration. His works have been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally including Los Angeles, New York, and London.

Mallozzi's work explores the broad spectrum of the human condition. Ranging from youthful to mature content, the work encompasses and reveals the idea that while emotions are amorphous, each one emits a color that echoes complex emotional states that all of us can relate to--no matter what language we happen to speak.

JASON ANDREW TURNER // My work is an investigation of the rhythm and lifetime of the portrait. Methodically rendered and reliant on the tool, I fill the frame with dense lines with occasional pops of color. I create obsessive compulsive environments from my own experience, while interlacing imagined stories that are left to the viewer to navigate and attribute their own meaning; as if building a vast space for the participants to exist and form their own story within the created world. I utilize the tool and its reaction with the surface in order to show its weight and influence my hand. In my work there is a visual detachment between the participants in the narrative and the mechanically produced marks. The artworks serve as a mirror for the viewer to slip into an entangled consciousness; a shared mysticism of space and form, ultimately embracing life and death and the experience between the lines.

Jason Andrew Turner was born in 1982 in Birmingham, AL. He previously lived and worked in Philadelphia, PA and is most recently based in Brooklyn, NY.


JASON CHEN // Jason Chen is originally from Guangzhou, China. He received his BFA in Animation from the University of Arts in 2008. Jason is a Philadelphia based Photographer specializing in Fashion, Editorial, and Alternative Process Photography. He is the Co-Founder of Paradigm Gallery + Studio and Juggling Wolf (a film and animation production studio). Jason’s work has been displayed in galleries and venues including: Paradigm Gallery + Studio, Crane Arts, The Light Room Gallery, Trust Gallery, Kimmel Center, and Commerce Square.


Apr 13, 16   •  By Sara
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