SOMA NewArt GALLERY

SOMA Gallery is pleased to announce Sandra Bloodworth's new exhibit "Urban Principals," life-size portraits of artists, curators, poets and designers, all of whom are in the public realm. Each painting is of an individual that has contributed significantly to a public dialogue that inspires and challenges us to think and look at things in new and different ways. These principals have created new principles in the arts and the urban environment that impact many of our lives. The subjects were chosen because of their vision and accomplishments, Bloodworth’s intent is to capture their personality and presence as they occupy the space on the canvas and in the room. Sandra's portraits strive to find that moment where they might just come down off the wall and engage you in conversation.

"The brief time I spend with each of my subjects and my familiarity with their work helped me to capture various glimpses of their personalities.  My paintings evoke the illusion of three-dimensional form with hard-edge design, creating a contrast between the individuals and their environment.”

This provocative contemplative show will include a full retrospective of New York Icons, including Bloodworth’s portraits of Alice Neel, Allen Ginsberg, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Alex Katz as well as her new portraits of Thelma Golden, Vito Acconci, Elizabeth Murray, and others. On the wall next to each painting will be displayed a brief biography of the subject.

In one of Sandra’s most recent portraits, Vito Acconci, she invites us to contemplate this extraordinary conceptual artist and poet whose current work blurs the line between art and architecture.  “Vito inspires us to look at the built environment in a new way by questioning its function visually.”   In America, Portrait of A. Ginsberg, a much earlier work, Bloodworth positions Ginsberg in front of the Statue of Liberty invoking his poem that laments the changes in American culture and consumer capitalism.

Sandra Bloodworth lives and works in New York City and Cape May, New Jersey. Sandra Bloodworth has exhibited widely from Charleston, Mississippi to New York City. She is currently director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Arts for Transit and Urban Design program. In 2005, she was awarded the Sloan Public Service Award for her work in bringing art and music to the New York subway.  She is the co-author of Along the Way:  MTA Arts for Transit.

SANDRA BLOODWORTH - RESUME
SANDRA BLOODWORTH - BIO

                                    

Sandra Bloodworth - Artist Statement

“Urban Principals,” brings together a gathering of artists, curators, poets, and designers, all of whom are in the public realm.  Each subject is an individual that contributes significantly to a public dialogue that inspires and challenges us to think and to look at things in new and different ways.   Figuratively speaking, the subjects are principals that have and do create principles in the arts and urban environment, impacting the lives of many.

My process leads me to engage the person I wish to paint and gain their agreement to pose.*   Upon their agreement to “sit,” I take a series of photographs, with a concept in mind.  Whether the subject was chosen because of their vision or their personality, my intent is to capture the subject’s personality and create a sense of presence, i.e., that they are present in the room.  I strive to find that moment where the subject might just come down off the wall and engage you in conversation.

I have drawn and painted from the time I was able to pick up a crayon.  As I matured as a painter, I was drawn to abstraction – hard-edged realistic works – and then moved toward figurative subjects to portray the people and things in my life.  Working initially in acrylic and then in oil, in an attempt to both capture the personality of the subject and, in turn, reveal my own, I became a figurative painter with an emphasis on the portrait.

 Meals, flowers, and portraits are all subjects that are close to my heart and with which I entertain a close relationship in my practice as a painter.  I often set out to capture, with lush images, my life as it is shared with my partner.  The work is intimate and personal and often about bounty and the desire for love, good times, and abundance.

*The exception to this process is the portrait of Elizabeth Murray.  Conceived after her death, I reached out to her husband for his blessing.  I worked from photographs of Elizabeth taken by photographer Michael Kamber, combined with a strong memory of her presence.

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE  to view information on each Artist's Portrait and Sandra's Inspiration for the painting.