Anyone who has really studied biology and the natural world can tell you that even the simplest of organic objects can be a marvel of biological complexity. If we take the time to stop and examine them, we find that simple organic objects can be visual wonders as well.
Dennis Wojtkiewicz makes that brilliantly clear for us. He paints large, luminous oil paintings of simple-but-complex objects like single flower blossoms or slices of fruit or melons. The fruit slices are often lit from behind, giving their intricate interiors the appearance of being illuminated from within, and the flowers are bathed in warm light that gives their finely textured surfaces an almost angelic quality.
I would really enjoy the opportunity to see his canvases in person because they are large in scale, many are 4ft x 4ft (121 x 121 cm), and the visual impact must be wonderful. The fruit images are more recent than the flowers. According his artist’s statement he has been working on the series for the past two years.
Wojtkiewicz is a professor at the School of Art, Bowling Greeen State University in Ohio, and his work has been in an impressive list of exhibits, collections and publications.
The links for Wojtkiewicz’s galleries below are to the J. Cacciola Gallery in New York, the Glass Garage Gallery in West Hollywood, and the Robert Kidd Gallery in Burmingmham, MI, all of which represent some other very interesting artists.
One of the things that art does best is to remind us how astonishing the “ordinary world” around us really is. I would love to gaze at Wojtkiewicz’s 4 foot high painting of a grapefruit for a while and then sit down to breakfast.
Link via Changing Places.
I’m thinking, “yeah, I blogged about that and then notice the link is from me! Thanks for noticing!
I love how the light just glows from his work. I wish I could do that….
Likewise.
Dennis is my professor for painting and he is amazing. He has a real gift for noticing light and color changes. It is really an honor being his student. I have seen his work in person and it is very enchanting. His paintings of fruit in person have a very seductive feeling in my opinion. I would suggest you try to find some of his work yourself and see how it makes you feel when standing two feet from it.