These are all new paintings by Stanley Bielen, an artist from Philadelphia. Stanley paints flowers from his garden and objects from his collection of ceramics. He paints what he sees, and every object is the subject of intense fascination for him.
His work is very much about capturing the essence of a small thing and making it a tension between his application of paint and reality. He doesn’t want to capture anything realistic because the work is about paint. I think the tension is between loving the object as an actual thing and then using it as a springboard to paint. The use of every distinct, concentrated brushstroke illuminates the object and illuminates the fact that it’s pure paint both at the same time.
I find his paintings juicy, sensual, intense, and very beautiful.
