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Since I began this blog in 2007, one of the continually most popular posts has been that of a beautiful photography book featuring the sex appeal of hirsute males; Hairy, by Robert Greene.
What may surprise some of you is that photography is merely a one of the talents of artist Robert Greene whose painted works are critically acclaimed by the art world and whose pieces are featured in the newest Chanel boutiques in Los Angeles and Soho.
above: Robert Greene's black and white abstract works are the perfect compliment to architect Peter Marino's Chanel Soho and Los Angeles boutiques
For the past two years, Robert has been preparing for a solo exhibit of his abstract pieces at the Robert Miller Gallery in New York, which will open tomorrow, May 5th, and run through June 18th.
Showing you these extraordinary paintings on a blog simply does not do them justice. Greene is known for his oil paintings celebrating color and texture created through a methodical and intuitive process of painterly construction, meticulous deconstruction and repositioning of oil-on-vellum strips.
The paintings are mounted on quarter-inch-thick aluminum panels and hang virtually flush with the wall, creating a sleek, distinctive, object-oriented style. The work conveys a modern, refined elegance through a unique surface balancing individual mark-making with systematic precision. Throughout the exhibit Greene refers to modernist painting traditions such as the stripe, the grid, the monochrome, all over composition, cut-ups and gesturalism.
Brian:
Brian in situ:
Each of the gallery's five rooms will contain multiple works allowing Greene to explore dynamic color relationships between the paintings. Each abstraction is titled after a person or reminiscence, alluding to portraiture and intimacy through formal means. James, a work consisting of three seven foot wide panels of white, textured, finely cut and reassembled strips of paint, is titled after the artist's brother. Bobby, the artist's childhood nickname, is a bright, warm, gold and white painting of thinly cut horizontal strips inspired by Greene's memory of his grandfather and father's jewelry business.
Other works in the show explode with color, vibrancy and have sensuous, tactile surfaces. In one of these, Giancarlo, Greene pays homage to the spirit of 1960s Italy with broad colorful stripes under thick strokes of white.
Maurice, 2010:
Luc + Martin, 2010:
Eli, 2010:
Marie, 2010:
detail:
Evie, 2010:
Red, 2010:
Jean-Claude, 2006:
detail:
Cesar, 2010:
Here's a 2009 interview with Robert about his latest works from BOMB Magazine:
Greene’s paintings have been included in the Whitney Biennial and are included in numerous public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was the subject of a retrospective at the Stedelijk Bureau Museum in Amsterdam. His work is included in numerous private collections in the United States and Europe. Recently Greene has created works commissioned for Chanel boutiques worldwide.
Robert's abstract works are featured in the Chanel Boutiques in Soho and on Robertson Avenue in Los Angeles as shown below:
images courtesy of the artist and the Robert Miller Gallery
Robert Greene At The Robert Miller Gallery
May 5, 2011 - June 18th, 2011
Opening: Thursday, May 5 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Robert Miller Gallery
524 West 26th Street
New York, NY
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. For further information, please contact the gallery at 212.366.4774 or via email: rmg@robertmillergallery.com
above: detail from Vincent Cacciotti's reinterpretation of the Playboy Bunny
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the world famous Playboy Club and the Playboy Bunny, artists reinterpreted the sexy icon in Playboy Redux II, an exhibit featuring the work of over 20 of today's contemporary artists.
above: Hugh with his Playboy Bunnies at the Chicago Playboy Club in 1960.
Known at that time for her satin bunny suit, cotton tail and rabbit ears, the Playboy Bunny served cocktails and glamour in equal doses. Many luminaries once worked as Bunnies, including Deborah Harry, Gloria Steinem and Lauren Hutton.
above: the original Playboy Bunnies
For Playboy Redux: Contemporary Artists Interpret the Iconic Playboy Bunny, artists were asked to create a new look for the Bunny, a veritable makeover to create the Bunny of the future. The selected artists presented a number of new takes on this iconic image, and works in different mediums including photography, painting, sculpture, drawing and video.
The group show, The "Playboy Redux" exhibition was originally shown at The Warhol Museum in March-June, 2010. Copro Gallery is now exhibiting many of these works along with new ones in "Playboy Redux ll". This project is part of Playboy's year-long 50th Anniversary celebration of the Playboy Club and Playboy Bunny. The exhibit is curated by Aaron Baker, Ned West and Copro Gallery.
above: Frank Kozik's reinterpretation of the Playboy Bunny
Graffiti artists, lowbrow artists, cartoonists, photographers, illustrators and sculptors participated including Frank Kozik, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Tara McPherson and Shag to name only a few.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Tara McPherson:
TIN:
Tim Biskup:
Shag:
Another interpretation by Shag:
Gary Baseman:
Brian Viveros:
Jennybird Alacantra:
Vincent Cacciotti:
Hiroki Otsuka:
William Wray:
Jeremy Fish:
Erik Alos:
Travis Lampe:
Dave Nestler:
Bob Doucette:
Jeremiah Ketner:
Luke Chueh:
Juan Muniz:
Mark "atmos" Pilon:
You can see some more here and still more here.
PLAYBOY, BUNNY and Rabbit Head Design are all marks of Playboy, ©2010 Playboy
