lunes, 24 de febrero de 2014
TRAVIS LOUIE
Travis Louie’s paintings come
from the tiny little drawings and many writings in his journals. He’s created
his own imaginary world that is grounded in Victorian and Edwardian times. It
is inhabited by human oddities, mythical beings, and otherworldly characters
who appear to have had their formal portraits taken to mark their existence and
place in society. The underlying thread that connects all these characters is
the unusual circumstances that shape who they were and how they lived. Some of
their origins are a complete mystery while others are hinted at. A man is
cursed by a goat, a strange furry being is discovered sleeping in a hedge, an
engine driver can’t seem to stop vibrating in his sleep, a man overcomes his
phobia of spiders, etc, . . .Using inventive techniques of painting with
acrylic washes and simple textures on smooth boards, he’s created portraits
from an alternate universe that seemingly may or may not have existed.
BIOGRAPHY
Travis Louie was born in
Queens, New York, about a mile from the site of the 1964 World’s Fair. His
early childhood was spent making drawings and watching “Atomic Age” Sci-Fi and
Horror movies. There were many Saturday afternoon trips to the local comics shop
and noon matinees at the RKO Keith’s cinema on Northern Blvd. , where he
marveled at the 1950’s memorabilia: the rocket ships, the superheroes, the
giant monsters, and old pulp art covers. He did thousands of sketches of genre
characters like Godzilla, King Kong, and a host of creatures from Ray
Harryhausen movies.
After high school, he went to
Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated with a degree from the
communication design dept. with the intent on pursuing a freelance illustration
career. The work wasn’t as rewarding as he had anticipated. After a few years
freelancing, he created a body of paintings and began showing them in local art
galleries. The response was very encouraging. He stopped actively pursuing
illustration work and began taking on more private commissions and
concentrating his efforts on gallery shows.
The visual style of his work
is mostly influenced by the lighting and atmosphere of German Expressionist and
Film Noir motion pictures from the Silent Era to the late 1950’s. Films from
directors like F W Murnau, Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, Robert Siodmak, Robert
Aldrich, Jacque Tourneur, and cinematographer, Greg Toland, had a great effect
on the way he wanted his paintings to look.
To achieve the dramatic “mood”
in his paintings, they are produced primarily in black and white or limited
color. He uses acrylic paints over tight graphite drawings on smooth grounds,
like “plate” finish illustration board or finely sanded, primed wood panels.
When he is not painting, his time is spent writing in his notebooks and
journals. Many little drawings and sketches are made from those writings, most
of which are less than 10 centimeters square.
The influences for his work
are many; the genre films, his fascination with human oddities, circus
sideshows, old Vaudeville magic acts, Victorian portraits, and things
otherworldly, are all blended together to enable him to bring life to the
characters and stories he writes in his journals.
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