Daniel Heidkamp
Trapped Under Nice
On View: March 8th - April 9th, 2011
Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 8th, 6-8 PM
LaMontagne Gallery is pleased to present Trapped Under Nice, an exhibition of new paintings by Daniel Heidkamp
Trapped Under Nice contains works composed of people and space, observed from life but depicted so that the materiality of the paint compliments the significance of the subject’s detailed portrayal.
"Trapped Under Nice” features a group of portraits and interiors painted from observation. These paintings depict people in my world and the interior/exterior spaces that we occupy. To allow for the possibility of narrative, an emphasis is placed on articulating the personality of the subject, an atmospheric quality of light, as well the type and arrangement of objects within a space. Working exclusively from life allows me to engage with my subject in a direct and unmitigated way, capturing a type of detail and nuance elusive to, for instance, a camera’s lens. The action in some of the paintings, such as “Guenther” and “Al Baio”, takes place within my studio during visits by fellow artists. Others such as “Who’s that Swirl?” and “Strawberry Peel” are situated in domestic settings (my New York City apartment; a beach house in Florida) where I captured the original scene by drawing with colored pencil. With elements constantly in flux, working from life offers a nervy challenge that often leads to strange color combinations and unexpected forms. Permitting these idiosyncrasies gives the paintings a more personal and human touch. By choosing my subject matter from the menagerie of people and places that pass before my eyes, I strive to find the art in (or trapped under) everyday happenings.
In addition to the observational aspects of these paintings, a strong emphasis is placed on exploring the formal and physical possibilities of the oil painted surface. Across these relatively small paintings, passages of multicolored swirling paint bump up against flat matte planes. In this way, I am celebrating and exploiting the range of the medium and relishing in the simple beauty of the pigments. I also use paint in this way to simultaneously enhance narrative readings of the subject while conversely reminding the viewer that any expression of light, space, and emotion is only a figment created by goop. In this context the phrase “Trapped Under Nice” points to the slippery relationship between the illusion of subject matter and the actuality of the painted surface.
Daniel Heidkamp, February 2011
Daniel Heidkamp was born in Wakefield, MA (1980) and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Heidkamp received a BFA in Painting from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA (2003). Recently his work has been exhibited at Galerie Mikael Andersen in Germany, Gallery Poulsen in Denmark, and Priska Juschka Fine Arts in New York.