Modesto jc ARTS

November 1 – December 1 Alex Walker: Arches, Pillars, Patterns & Portals

Please join us, Thursday, November 10th at 5:30 for an Artist Reception at the MJC Art Gallery.

FOR MORE INFO ON ALEX, FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW

http://ajwalkerart.com/

My artwork is a snapshot of my interests and influences, from the cave paintings of prehistoric man to artwork made using the most cutting-edge modern day modes of creation.   I am fascinated by science and astronomy and the exploration of both deep sea and deep space.  I am equally intrigued by the folly of man and the absurdity of the world in which we live. I am interested in the nature of consciousness and the basis for religious experience and how these themes have manifested in the work of artists throughout history.  I want my artwork to act as a reminder of the existence of a wider spectrum of reality and potential experience.  These areas of interest overlap and intersect to inform my work and the thinking that goes into my creative practices. 

The starting point of my art lies in an idiosyncratic combination of the various characteristics of collage, calligraphic writing and automatic drawing, which I briefly describe below for their theoretical underpinnings.  The first principle of my art is the unexpected relationships of complementary ideas brought about through collage techniques. This process of juxtaposition allows for serendipitous relationships between the objective elements of compositions to emerge: re-contextualizing them to create new worlds. The compositions born as collages are then reworked and executed as drawings or paintings. 

The second principle of my art is the sweeping arabesque characteristics of the Bismillah Islamic calligraphy, which I became aware of about five years ago. This led me to explore its related parallels in the modern arts of the western tradition beginning with the third principle, automatic drawing.  Originally conceived by the early Surrealists, automatic drawing utilized rapid gestural movements of the hand and arm to produce line compositions describing abstract spatial constructions that allowed for unconscious ideas of forms to emerge from the resulting chaos.  These characteristics are particularly evident in the works ofAndre Masson, Max Ernst, and Yves Tanguy.  This development led to the subconscious rhythmic compositions of the Abstract Expressionists artists Jackson Pollock, Mark Tobey, and more recently such graffiti’s artists as El Mac & Retina, Ron English, Banksy, and the Pop-Surrealists.  Elaborating on these traditions, my work implements the techniques of the earlier movements while incorporating a broad range of influence from other avenues of art history.Many of my finished works executed in this hybrid style, which I’ve dubbed “Amorphous Figures”, stem from a fascination with old panoramic battle scenes and the carnival like mob paintings by the Spanish Romantic painter Francisco Goya.  My densely packed compositions are claustrophobic, yet reveal a high level of ordered and patterned structure with clusters of various characters and surreal figures embedded in swirling amorphous concentric linear pulsations.

These three principles are brought together in such compositions as in my painting entitled Artemis (2010) where psychedelic patterns flow from one element to the next creating a continuous regeneration of forms. In combining the various techniques described above I feel that I have found an avenue of creativity that warrants further exploration and I will continue to explore these ideas as well as experiment with innovative modes of creation to produce new works of art well into the future.

Education

BFA           University of California, Santa Cruz.  2010

Exhibitions

2014         “Central California Arts Showcase”  Carnegie Art Center. Turlock, CA. and Mistlin Gallery, Modesto CA.

2014         “60′s Retrospective” Group Show. Mistlin Gallery. Modesto, CA.

2013         Solo Exhibit of Selected Works. Praxis Gallery. San Francisco, CA.

2013          “Pancakes and Booze Art Show” 4n5 Gallery. San Francisco, CA.

2012         “Wood Whomp Music Festival” Outdoor Art Gallery. Murphys, CA.

2010          Exhibit of Selected Works. The Coastal Connection. Hermosa Beach, CA.