the four anschutz from above series paintings i’ve completed thus far.
3:24 pm: i’m preparing 4 more 16x20” canvases, so that there will be a total of 8 paintings in this series. while stretching the remaining 4 canvases, I reviewed the four i’ve completed thus far, hanging them on my east wall.
of course there’s a connection to my Ano Kato series: https://www.philiptarlow.com/anokato
if you look carefully at that series, the first thing you may notice is that this new series leans more in the direction of nonobjective painting, using ambiguity and abstract expressionist brushwork to walk the line between figurative and abstract; now tilting here, now there. the figures in my Ano Kato paintings many of which were inspired by museum views looking down from above, are clearly recognizable. the seated figures of anschutz patients seen from above are a part of the architecture. if their forms are becoming too distinct, they are scraped and smeared with my palette knife until they integrate with the whole.
my love for architecture, which runs through the history of my work, first showed up in many of the paintings i made during my 15 year greek period; mainly neoclassical architecture. it continued during my new york period, in the early and mid-80’s.
BELOW: 2 of my many paintings of neoclassical greek architecture, originally introduced in the 19th century. the one on the left is in athens, and on the right, chora, capitol of the cycladic island of andros.
2015 painting in progress of a view from above of the MET interior
