RENE LYNCH
Leda's Daughter
New Paintings
NOW ON VIEW
February 2 - March 3, 2012
hpgrp GALLERY NEW YORK
529 West 20th Street . 2W
Chelsea . New York City
tel. 212.727-2491
color brochure available with an essay by Paul Laster
CLICK on RED LINK to see NEW WORK Leda's Daughter
ARTIST"S STATEMENT:
Leda’s Daughter - Rene Lynch, 2011-12
In the iconic film The Red Shoes, the character of the impresario Boris Lermontov asks the dancer Vicky “Why do you dance?” She answers without hesitation “Why do you live?”
I paint because I breathe. It is who and what I am. The metaphor of the Red Shoes is a good touchstone for this new body of work. As Paul Brunick has written; “The ballerina Vicky gives herself fully to the “terrifying and transporting power of the red shoes…. a supremely perverse celebration of the artistic drive as a kind of pathology for which there is no cure.” These paintings attempt to define a raw truth about women’s creative ambition and sexual energy which I believe lies somewhere between the twin aspects of tragedy and power. In our contemporary world this concept can be seen to be symbolically manifested by the work and lives of the late artists Pina Bausch and Amy Winehouse.
I’m inspired by tales of queens, ill fated warriors and crazy faithful mystics, those with magical powers, heroines, and victims of their convictions; Joan of Arc, Ophelia, Icarus, Judith and Athena. These paintings are self-portraits…not at all in the literal sense of likenesses, but in the sense that I am exploring the dark corners and grand vistas of my own psyche as it pertains to my life as an artist and a woman. These images are highly romantic and unapologetically operatic. They are an invitation into my dream world.
Painting intuitively, I skirt a razor's edge of kitsch imagery and art historical references, employing recognizable and filmic tropes while meshing together personal interpretations of feminist icons, myths and fairytales, and a rapturous relationship to the natural world. These paintings are in no way intended to be specific narratives but instead, like the surrealism of Japanese anime, open a window to a magic reality, allowing an open ended and associative response. Over the years certain animals have emerged as my personal avatars, in this series, the swan, for it’s dual nature of fierceness and vulnerability. Some of the inspiration has come from an intoxication with 17th century Dutch still life paintings with their depictions of gorgeous blooms presented in over abundance, crawling with lizards, beetles and the beginnings of decay. That poignant moment of the realization of the cosmic balance between beauty, ambition and death is at the center of the creative drive and these current works. Beauty and dreams have taken a beating but still we must dance on…. and this dance of life and death is what sustains us.
Leda's Daughter
New Paintings
NOW ON VIEW
February 2 - March 3, 2012
hpgrp GALLERY NEW YORK
529 West 20th Street . 2W
Chelsea . New York City
tel. 212.727-2491
color brochure available with an essay by Paul Laster
CLICK on RED LINK to see NEW WORK Leda's Daughter
ARTIST"S STATEMENT:
Leda’s Daughter - Rene Lynch, 2011-12
In the iconic film The Red Shoes, the character of the impresario Boris Lermontov asks the dancer Vicky “Why do you dance?” She answers without hesitation “Why do you live?”
I paint because I breathe. It is who and what I am. The metaphor of the Red Shoes is a good touchstone for this new body of work. As Paul Brunick has written; “The ballerina Vicky gives herself fully to the “terrifying and transporting power of the red shoes…. a supremely perverse celebration of the artistic drive as a kind of pathology for which there is no cure.” These paintings attempt to define a raw truth about women’s creative ambition and sexual energy which I believe lies somewhere between the twin aspects of tragedy and power. In our contemporary world this concept can be seen to be symbolically manifested by the work and lives of the late artists Pina Bausch and Amy Winehouse.
I’m inspired by tales of queens, ill fated warriors and crazy faithful mystics, those with magical powers, heroines, and victims of their convictions; Joan of Arc, Ophelia, Icarus, Judith and Athena. These paintings are self-portraits…not at all in the literal sense of likenesses, but in the sense that I am exploring the dark corners and grand vistas of my own psyche as it pertains to my life as an artist and a woman. These images are highly romantic and unapologetically operatic. They are an invitation into my dream world.
Painting intuitively, I skirt a razor's edge of kitsch imagery and art historical references, employing recognizable and filmic tropes while meshing together personal interpretations of feminist icons, myths and fairytales, and a rapturous relationship to the natural world. These paintings are in no way intended to be specific narratives but instead, like the surrealism of Japanese anime, open a window to a magic reality, allowing an open ended and associative response. Over the years certain animals have emerged as my personal avatars, in this series, the swan, for it’s dual nature of fierceness and vulnerability. Some of the inspiration has come from an intoxication with 17th century Dutch still life paintings with their depictions of gorgeous blooms presented in over abundance, crawling with lizards, beetles and the beginnings of decay. That poignant moment of the realization of the cosmic balance between beauty, ambition and death is at the center of the creative drive and these current works. Beauty and dreams have taken a beating but still we must dance on…. and this dance of life and death is what sustains us.
