Thomas Williams Fine Art is celebrating the opening of their new gallery location with an exhibit of paintings from Lars Elling. “Oppenheimer’s Garden” is on display now through the end of April, contact the gallery for details.
Lars Elling, Initiation, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 67 x 67″, 2010.
Lars Elling paints with egg tempera, an ancient method that involves the suspension of raw pigment in egg yolk and other fluids. The slick feel of the paint dries quickly into a sticky skim and further seals into a very durable, long lasting surface. It’s a technique that is barely taught in schools today because tempera has almost entirely been replaced by oil paint. The medium allows for a precise control over color with light entering deep into the surface illuminating the minuscule specs of powdered pigment. The effect of the approach and the facility of the artist is easily spotted even in these digitized images.
Lars Elling, Mastermind, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 39 x 39″, 2010.
The fabricated world of Lars Elling has been Frankensteined from opposing references that evoke feelings of nostalgic comfort and masochistic stage. Elling turns the paintings as he works, an action that further confuses the physics of his scenes and forces deliberation over form on an abstract level. The strange and beautiful tableau invites and repels dependent largely on the emotional baggage that the viewer has brought to the gallery.
Lars Elling, Mother’s Day, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 67 x 67″, 2010.
Lars Elling
16 March – 28 April 2011
Thomas Williams Fine Art
London
