Thursday 4 October 2012

Off The Wall

Nathan Ritterpusch 
A Chat Before the Show 
 

With help from our friend in New York City, Huey Crowley, we managed to hook up with world renowned artist Nathan Ritterpusch before his eagerly anticipated show at Rare Gallery (find out more at bottom of post).

Here's how it went...

RDC: Hello Nathan, it's nice to meet you, can we start with where are you from, where did you study, and where do you currently work?

I'm from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I have an undergraduate degree from the Maryland Institute, College of Art and currently live and work in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
 
RDC: Do you paint from observation or do you primarily use photographs? Tell us about your process, we also would like to know about your blurring technique. :)

My most recent paintings are based on scenes I stage and photograph. Afterwards the images are tweaked in photoshop and I work from the prints. The canvas is gridded out to scale and the image is rendered by brush. While the paint is still wet it gets manipulated with plastic sheeting and a wallpapering/smoothing tool. Usually it takes three or four layers, then the piece is completed.



RDC: Women are your main topic of your work it seems, and the characters in your work seem to be going through some sort of emotional turmoil.. Tell us about your thoughts on the content of your work.

The content sometimes surprises me and I wonder to myself "why am I painting someone crying or going down some dark path". I think it's because it just feels somehow interesting or very real to me. I've always wanted to create these elusive, haunted atmospheres. Something that borders on breakdown, where you're really laid bare and exposed. Passages of vulnerability are very revealing and represent a place we all go to in our solitude, where we are at our most authentic. I like those moments, they seem to represent a deeper truth.

My paintings often depict women, but I wouldn't confuse that with being about women. This group of paintings, while containing mostly women explores psychological scenarios that are part of a larger, interconnected narrative. 


RDC: Thanks so much for the view Nathan... go and check out his show starting 11th October 2012.

RARE is pleased to announce the opening of Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, an exhibition of new paintings by Nathan Ritterpusch.  Running from October 11 through November 8, this is the artist's third solo show with the gallery and the first installment in his ongoing narrative series, The Brunette, The Blonde, and Their Mistress.

For more about the show go on Logo
RARE Gallery
547 W 27 Street,
No. 514,
New York 
New York 10001

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