Upcoming: Blood & Marble: Bradley Platz Solo Exhibition
Opening Reception: Saturday September 15, 2012, 6-10 pm
Exhibition Dates: September 15 - October 21, 2012
Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 11a - 7pm
Modern
Eden is proud to present an exhibition of new works by San Francisco
based artist and gallery co-founder Bradley Platz. This series of ten
new works on linen entitled 'Blood & Marble' explores the idea of
classical decay in the modern age. These painstakingly detailed
paintings feature portrait busts offset by elements of life; hints of
blood, an interrogative gaze, scarred flesh and perched birds that all
add a subtle color and life force to the cold marble subjects.
(Detail)
These
are portraits of the forgotten idols, the pieces of the past meant to
preserve the highest order of our human ideals. As we move stubbornly
forward in time and generations pass on, we see our crowned achievements
of art and culture as dust. The rate of decay is governed only by the
constitution of the material, be it flesh or marble. These paintings are
about interpreting the fragility of our idols and examining them from a
humanist perspective. In the end, entropy prevails and only by finding
beauty in decay and re-interpreting it do we carry on the indomitable
human spirit of progress and artistic pursuit of beauty.
"Heritage" © 2012
The
subjects stand as compromised martyrs, moments frozen in time.
Pacifists, they were once observers and are now the eternally observed.
Stolid, cold marble with fixed emotion, they bear the changing seasons
and cycles of time uncelebrated, unobtrusive but exposed. They are
effigies from a lost age, relics of a classical system and now they
stand as monuments to modern decay. These are our gods, our flawed
icons, our higher aspirations of self, whose cold marble bears the
weight of time more slowly than the flesh, but nevertheless suffer as we
suffer and bleed as we bleed.
"The Red Necklace" © 2012
From the artist: "The
Blood and Marble series was born out of my 2011 piece 'Bloody Mary'.
This painting was the first using my technique of selectively primed
linen. Something about the contrast between the developed painted
surface and the soft, raw linen was interesting to me both visually and
metaphorically. There is a stillness and a heaviness that I enjoy in
classical art and it is with homage to this, and with respect, that I
let the past inform the modern. My work is influenced by the
progression of time and the intricate language of symbols both personal
and universal. To me, paintings are reliquaries for ideas and history
is always involved"
The
opening reception for "Blood & Marble" will be held at Modern Eden
on Saturday, September 15th from 6-10pm. The exhibition will be on
display through October 21, 2012 and is free and open to the public.
Complimentary drinks will be served by Rolling Rock and Three Wishes.
There will be an accompanying special musical performance by DJ Brendan
J. during the reception. Exhibiting artist, Bradley Platz will be in
attendance.
Studio Shot, Works in Progress
For more information please contact Modern Eden: (415) 956-3303, Info@ModernEden.com
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