Ella Yang “Look Again”
440 Gallery
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One might wonder why an artist like Ella Yang, whose passion for plein air painting was ignited in the lush countryside of Italy’s Umbria, would want to paint disintegrating pilings in the Gowanus Canal, or a local bodega that has seen better days. Yang, in fact, has painted many such views over the past several years. As trite as it is, the saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” holds true for Yang, who finds aesthetic appeal in the commonplace, often overlooked structures and scenes in her surroundings.
Yang finds poetry in the way sunlight strikes and reflects off surfaces, whether a man-made object or a natural one, and in the patterns shadows create. Her paintings have a timeless quality, as she selects views that focus on the old, especially the architectural elements that pervade her compositions. This selection of works also has poignancy - some of the paintings, such as Eagle Clothes, depict aspects of Brooklyn neighborhoods that are disappearing gradually.
Yang takes great pleasure in traditional methods of oil painting. Typically, she starts a painting on-site and returns multiple times to develop the composition, build up masses of colors, and correct tonal values. Back at her studio, she often applies glazes to heighten the translucency and a sense of light in specific areas of a painting. She states that “at best my paintings pay tribute to the abundant benefits of attentiveness.”
Media
Schedule
from October 23, 2014 to November 23, 2014
Opening Reception on 2014-10-24 from 18:00 to 20:00