Gerald Lovell
A is for Andy, 2019
About:
Born in 1992 in Chicago, IL, to Puerto Rican, and African American parents—Gerald Lovell, uses his artistic practice as a means to self-discovery, and self-articulation. Lovell began his career as an artist after dropping out of the graphic design program at the University of West Georgia as an undergraduate, realizing his need to embrace a new creative path. This epiphany Lovell had in 2014 was his point of departure from a more formal to informal and unorthodox mode of artistic production . . . as he later emerged as a self-taught artist, showing his work on the Atlanta art scene and beyond. Over the last four years, Lovell’s portraits have become increasingly complex, as he has embodied meaning into his usage of altering painting styles, noting how “painting in three dimensions best conveys my narrative. The thicker the paint, the more emphasis on the object.” As of late, his use of the impasto painting style has been more so to emphasize the body—applying the interspersed impasto technique as a variation in style meant to distinguish between the human subjects, and the material objects in his work.
Monica, 2019
All works presented here were created between 2017, and the present, and provide the first exclusive survey of Lovell’s current artistic production. Sylvia, Sylvia, 2019 for which this exhibit is titled, features the artist’s grandmother and sister (both named Sylvia), casually reclining on a bed in the grandmother’s home, depicting an intimate moment amongst family. Slight disruptions of these intimate moments are what provides these works with a narrative component—with sitters returning a reciprocal gaze, as though the viewer has been introduced to their space. Another work that expands this notion of being invited into the sitters’ space is Jaycina & Syx, 2019, the artist’s largest work to date—where he presents a redolent depiction of a mother and child, as central figures foregrounding the picturesque view of a local park in the fall. Other works in the show feature close acquaintances of the artist, and a few individuals he has engaged in passing who evoked a sense of nostalgia, and further articulated his sense of community.
-Faron Manuel, Collaborator/Writer(WishGallery)
Exhibition view, Wish, 2020
My works are compilations: layers upon layers of paint, giving way to form and depth. I paint as a documenter. Painting in three dimensions best conveys my narrative. The thicker the paint, the more emphasis on the object.
Yateer Drayton, 2019
When introducing myself to new people, I often hesitate to describe myself as “a painter”. My ordinarily lived life is the window through which I observe the subject matter of my work. Subjectively, my interactions and my reaction to things as I experience them bring life to the art. Objectively, the subtle qualities of my experience are preserved when I don’t “break the fourth wall”, so to speak. Together these perspectives offer a balance that is often ironically thrown off the moment I mention that I am an artist. Again, I paint as a documenter; a script and roles obstruct the narrative.
Kiante and Charlette, 2019
In painting I work to convey not only my outward perspectives but also the internal struggle between myself, the creator, versus my choice of medium and technique. Wanting to make beautiful paintings also brings rise to the question, “what exactly is a beautiful painting”. I find it important to convey things with a certain degree of realism. To do this, I observe “as is”; As the documenter, I am careful not to subject the subjects to fictitious narratives. This way, I can be critiqued on practice, technique, and overall quality of work rather than making work that attempts to induce a particular reaction from the audience.(website artist)