Hidden Falls by Charles Pabst

“Hidden Falls”

 Charles Pabst

32" x 48"

Giclee  No. 22/50

$3,600

-Gabriel Diego Delgado, San Antonio 

gabrield@jrmooneygalleries.com

"Hidden Falls"

-----Center point compositions are usually banal and uninteresting. Why spoon-feed a compositional array of visual ingredients to the layman or self-appeased viewer?

But, Hold that Thought!…..In Charles Pabst’s new Giclee releases of his current art market collections; “Hidden Falls” stands out as an eloquently whispered soliloquy of sensational thought. This simple arrangement of balanced tree line landscape novelty forces one to question the innocent single point perspective that drives your eye straight into the timidly tiered waterfall. I can regard Pabst of being a “Seasonal Shah” of impressionistic autumn and fall majesty.  His T. Kinkade-esque approach to sensational landscape paintings opt for a simplistic manner of understanding and appreciations. The foreground, middle and back all line up in a proper pattern of textbook elegance. Overly straightforward this type of aesthetic is the most basic and uncomplicated way for all of us to appreciate talent and intent.

However, audacious are his choices of color palette; over-emphasizing the decision for gallant golds, tantalizing tangerines, boisterous bolds of seasonal hues- reflective of specific geographical locations (mostly Arizona).

With a center of ambient sunlight blanketing the “v”- shaped core of the painting, Pabst relies on one elegant but conceptual line of light filled intensity to draw you in. A mystical moment of perfect celestial swathe of warm and inviting sunlit aubade caresses you as you enter this aura of painterly sensuality.

“Hidden Falls” harks back to time spent alone with his beloved wife exploring unbeaten paths for the perfect hidden treasures. Mission accomplished Mr. Pabst. Limited to an edition of only 50, this hidden gem in the new releases has a small print edition that makes for a coveted acquisition.

©Gabriel Diego Delgado

Art Consultant

JR Mooney Galleries: ph. 210-828-8214

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Treasure Business Award

J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art received the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Treasure Business Award on Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:00 A.M. for 65 years of business excellence.  Mr. Robert Mooney of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art was on- hand to receive the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Treasure Business Award; presented by Senator Jeff Wentworth.  This coveted award is presented to less than 1% of all San Antonio businesses; an honor for the gallery-recognizing its quality framing as well as its representation of regional, national and international fine art. 

Texas Treasure Business Award

Here are some video stills from the presentation of the Texas Treasure Business Award by Senator Jeff Wentworth to MR. Mooney for 65 years of business excellence.

“65 years of Business Excellence--recognized by the City of San Antonio and the Offices of Senator Jeff Wentworth”

On Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:00 A.M., Mr. Robert Mooney of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art will be awarded and receive the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Treasure Business Award on behalf of the office of Senator Jeff Wentworth for J.R. Mooney Galleries continued 65 years of business-supporting the Texas Art Community.  By providing museum quality framing as well as being a prestigious fine art gallery to a plethora of local, regional, and international artists; J.R. Mooney will join the ranks of other businesses like Univision, Holt Cat and San Antonio Federal Credit Union who have been awarded this Texas Business coveted award.  

How viewing art is affected by current disasters in media

“Memories”

 Clifton

 Oil on canvas

30” x 40”

$895

“Memories” by Clifton, a South Korean painter, hits home with a timely rendition for a self-reflective moment of grief and unfortunately impenetrable sorrow that mirrors the media news with a traditional mundane and trivial topic.

Busted bamboo stilts, ruggedly dispersed wooden slats and piers in shambles can be evidence of a monstrous disaster culled from the tsunami season, post earthquake calculations or global warming super-cells.  These are not positive memories of an older generation of long days of lore, but recent accolades of freshly imprinted destruction-tragic memories of additional devastation. Shimming water reflects the cerulean sky, with a minimal murkiness that adds the mysticism of the moment. As in today’s tragic tales of domestic and international terrorism, unfathomable annihilations of place, people and things, our immediate recognition is of depression for unseen populations affected by such circumstances.  Secured in the lower right corner, the bamboo pier lies unusable, metaphorically a being’s soul, damaged from affected monstrosities; a psyche flirting with PTSD- in a day and age of savageness, incomprehensible evils and unforeseen climate patterns.

©Gabriel Diego Delgado

December 2012 Boerne Business Monthly

Full Article can be read at:

http://d27vj430nutdmd.cloudfront.net/5721/137309/137309.1.pdf

or

http://bluetoad.com/publication/?m=5721&l=1

Miniature Expressions

J. Gabriel

Quarters

12" x 16"

Oil on Canvas

$260.00

Expressionistic Abstract Art is a dime a dozen in an over-saturated art market. Pseudo-artists can mimic this replicate-able genre, movement and try to imitate the core of a coveted artistic and intrinsic spiritual intention. But, when intangible abstract discourse is found in the context of South Korean impressionists; it takes on a more interesting analysis. J. Gabriel, a relatively unknown international artist is a lone rogue painter delivering with a multitude of expressionistic paintings that are almost always deliberately  and slightly offset “t’s” and “x’s”- full of emotion in a limited palette of  reds whites, blues, blacks and grays.  Gabriel intentionally tones down the hues to deliver a punch of gestural mark making. A straightforward cross concerto helps present a simplistic compositional arraignment, minus any subliminal undercurrents of politics, parodies, and conceptual allotments found in a majority of contemporary artwork.  This fresh breath of paint thinner laced air exemplifies the reason simple works. However, juxtaposed on this artistically derived minimal hypothesis is the visual play of multilayered pigments of color.  Smeared, raked, and scraped paint by way of palette knife shows the artist’s quick movement, his jerk of instinctive mark making. The blood red peers through blues, violets and blacks as it invades the visual façade. Demanding attention the white is a spiritual rival to the crimson anger.  Accidental color combinations, amoebic shapes, and speckled blotches of opaque color make for a miniature success of a 1960’s era throwback.    

© Gabriel Diego Delgado

Art Consultant, JR Mooney Galleries

Quarters can be purchased at http://www.jrmooneygalleries.com/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=540&product_id=5063.

Dawn by X. Song Jiang

Dawn

-X. Song Jiang

“Dawn” is a 4” x 6” oil painting on wood panel by Xiao Song Jiang; painted En plein air or in the open air- onsite at the harbor. This miniature masterpiece conjures a mixed emotion of early light sentimentality with crisp air and cool breathes. An overall cool color palette and minimal hue arraignments, Jiang’s craftiness rests in his  ability to make use of the token browns, reds, blues and yellows to accentuate aspects of subject matters and natural aura. Part knife, part brush; the quick gestures of the impressionistic qualities mimic an over-obsessed manic capturing movement, emotion, and elegance.

Great detail was laid to rest in the harbor shimmering reflections of the vessel in the morning light; godly grace that is peeking over the misty background brume.

With the horizon line set in the middle of the composition, Dawn’s yellow enflame above the perfectly aligned masts and sails of the backgrounds fleet draws your eye up into the expanding blue abyss. However, complementing this celestial sky is the reciprocating compositional base area anchored with glistening jest of reflective squiggles; offering reflections adrift in chilly channel montages of calming waves of cool color.

 

©Gabriel Diego Delgado

Art Consultant, JR Mooney Galleries

New Works by Xiao Song Jiang

Xiao Song Jiang

 With the overwhelming success of Xiao Song Jiang’s 5 page article in Southwest Art Magazine’s November 2012 edition, J.R. Mooney Gallery- (a nationally acclaimed gallery mentioned in the article as one of the few stateside galleries that represent Jiang’s work,) has received in 4 new small oil paintings on panel. Each painting measuring about 4’ x 6” is packed full of expressive detail, impressionism, and exuberant effect. 

All are available at JR Mooney Galleries , 8302 Broadway St, San Antonio, TX 78209, 210.828.8214

Above: "Morning" 4" x 6", Oil on panel

Above: "Dawn" 4" x 6", Oil on panel

Above: "Birch" 4" x 6", Oil on panel

Above: "Lane of Venice" 4" x 6", Oil on panel

Pinterest JR Mooney

JR Mooney Galleries 

is now on 

Check us out at:

https://pinterest.com/jrmooney/

A Recourse on Renaissance Renditions

Luzanquis

Plata y Uvas

...Still life painting has always been the calculated arrangements of the traditionalists. Compositions that artistically spotlight a visual gauge of craft and aesthetic; a lost art muffled in an internet based culture, items that are now foretold, and destined for an inevitable “like” or “bought” pin on an artist owned Pinterest® board. 

Dating back to ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations, still life paintings are reflective of afterlife necessities or lavish belongings of some elite Bourgeois. The “contemporary” art world has embraced this genre for ages, reveling in its ability to call upon so many aspects of everyday life - kitsch, deadpan, or other.

In Plata y Uva by Luzanquis (a Peruvian painter), the Cimmerian quality engulfs the viewer. The quasi Renaissance era composition evokes a Dürer idiosyncrasy.  Elegantly adorned sterling silver carafes with accented handles flank the pile of mahogany colored hardbound books.  Complementing the darkened wood credenza, these purposefully placed publications acts as a religious altar, amplifying the importance of the bowl of “uvas” or grapes.  Complete with a melted and exhausted dinner candle, this singular element also conjures subtle religious overtones. Motifs are a plenty in Plata y Uva with circles and spheres repeated in the triad of fruits purposely placed in a triangular configuration of stoic allegories; a traditional religious compositional component. Elliptical lips of various kitchenwares and the circular plate reinforces the oval, while linear elements create a dichotomy of visual planes.

©Gabriel Diego Delgado

Boerne Buisness Monthly Nov. 2012

Boerne Business Monthly Magazine Nov. 2012 edition

To read full article go to: http://bluetoad.com/publication/?m=5721&l=1

Pg. 27

The Fine Art of Texas Longhorns

Texas Hill Country art aesthetic has always revolved around capturing the open countryside; the infinite Texas skyline, its vast plains, cactuses, bluebonnets, and its signatory cowboy living. Consequently, Texas has become a home to a majority of Texas landscape and realism painters that prefer to spotlight that sometimes frightful, menacing, resilient yet spiritual animal- the Texas Longhorn, a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to 7 feet tip to tip.

Regional masters of the Longhorn painting genre include Texas painter, Ragan Gennusa; “the dean of Texas painters”, Frank Reaugh; and semi-abstract expressionist painter, LeRoy Neiman. Add to the ever expanding roster of artists mesmerized by the Longhorn- Cliff Cavin.  More known for his simplistic landscapes, Cavin is a purist, dedicated to the capturing of light, of atmosphere, of sub-stratospheric heavens. However his new series of longhorn cattle is surely something to note.

Cavin’s new work is all about discovering the longhorn cattle that thrive in the environments and landscapes that he typically paints.  Deterring our attention from his once eminent skies and atmospheric accentuations, Cavin uses his technique for capturing light and prominently displays the muscular structure of the longhorns and its signature head ornamentations.  Spare cactus litter the semi-arid landscape as his animals make their way through their daily strides into the grazing grounds of Texas Hill Country.

We see a hint of Cavin’s cool heavenly palette in minimal backgrounds, purely compositional elements along with heavily trodden footpaths and silhouetted wheel ruts that helps guide the eye back to the pallid longhorns; an animal inviting the viewer into a sometimes hostile pen.  

Cavin is currently working on his Longhorn cattle series for his upcoming national museum exhibitions as well as a spotlight viewing during the November Second Saturdays in Boerne, Texas- Nov. 10, 2012 at J.R. Mooney Galleries, Boerne, TX.  

© Gabriel Diego Delgado

Arthur McCall's new nostalgia

Arthur McCall

The Ranch

Acrylic on Panel

24” x 18”

$1,155

Hidden in the backwoods of our nostalgic memory lies a dormant thought awakened by a quick jolt of visual appeasement. Arthur McCall is one such artist that has that ability to stimulate our reminiscent reflections of our ancestors. Described as a painter of “Nostalgic landscapes”, Arthur depicts country-time scenes that hearken back to the times of a pre industrial era; a rugged living dictated by the seasons not the clock, farmhouses before factory farming and open communities before gated ones.

 ….“Paintings that remind us of the place we went hunting with Uncle Joe, or the place Granddad used to own, or the family ranch. Each one striking a cord within us all to a place and time we have only maybe heard about in long winded stories from Aunt Ruthie at Christmastime, but none the less awe inspiring and seemingly important in a family lineage kind of way.”

 A retired Game Warden for the state of Texas, Arthur spent most of his adult life outside, dealing with farmhands, poachers, cowboys, immigrants, hunters, and “good ol’ country boys”.  This genial living taught Arthur many life lessons, but everything about his stoic profession shaped who he was and who he became. An armed artist with a charismatic lifestyle that mirrors his ability to capture the Texas terrain, Arthur used his camera daily to record the likings he saw while in the field.

“The Ranch”, an acrylic painting on panel measuring 24” x 18” is a wonderful new release from Arthur McCall that demonstrates a new found ability in patience.  The success of the painting lies in the conclusion that since his retirement Arthur is spending more time with each painting; working on subtle as well as intense details, reexamining the overall vegetation clusters, adding more character to the houses, building and barns- all the while maintaining his airy integrity. Still impressionistic, the compositional layers of images make for a simple analysis. Foreground, middle, and background all lead into another; creating a cohesive course of gestalt-ian flow.

Vibrant white and yellow budding flowers spot the landscape leading up to the secluded stable, like scattered airplane runway lights- glowing in painterly luminescence, showing us the way into the darkened abyss of our over stimulated techno world.  A broken carriage with wooden wheels and springboard seating demands our attention-a possible metaphor of a larger broken society; showing progress at any point in time is always overrun by emerging technologies, must-haves to make our lives better. Seated yards away from the wagon up on the hill sits an open faced barn; missing shingles, slats as well as inhabitants – it subsists until the end of its time when it will eventually collapse under its own damaged, weathered, and worn out existence. (Insert onomatopoeia-like alliteration reference for our own lives)

However, peaking above the low level architecture, perched on the left side of the composition sits a signatory windmill. Operating with only its own liveliness and no one to celebrate its fruits of labor, it spins freely as an open air ornament to a sense of wistfulness while wispy clouds pass ever so quietly in the evening sun.

And, yes there are the obligatory bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes, but the cliché Texas landscape flowers play a less important role to this painting, allowing the other ingredients to breathe live into a mnemonic melancholy memory of time and space.

©Gabriel Diego Delgado

Holiday 2012 San Antonio Gallery and Under 300 II

As with the success of our first "Under 300", a small spotlight of artwork under $300- we were determined to do it again. So now with a selection of paintings at our Boerne gallery as well as a new selection of artworks under $300 at our San Antonio Gallery. I present to to you all.
"Under 300" II.

Here are a selection of images from the San Antonio Gallery, showcasing the whole gallery rehang from this week and new selections for the holiday gift ideas.