Re-Mastered: Paintings by Bob Knox

Andrea S. Keogh Art & Design is delighted to present "Re-Mastered: Painting by Bob Knox". Knox created this series of four large scale paintings in 2015. Lush, richly colored and intellectually engaging, these painting focus on two of Knox's passions - paintings by the masters and his own pursuit of beauty.

The initial impression of the "Re-Mastered" installation is gorgeous color and explosive brushwork. Closer viewing reveals that each of these works is layered a-top Knox's recreation of a painting from the art historical canon. This is most apparent in "Venus Hiding in a Glade of Pearls", based on Francois Boucher’s iconic 1751 "Toilet of Venus", a painting of Louis XV’s mistress Madame de Pompadour (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Knox applies wide gestural streaks and dashes of inspired color. This fusion of old and new is more than the sum of the parts and makes these compositions intriguing and sensational.

The art historical references in Knox’s other painting are subtler. "The Unexpected Guest", acrylic and dye on canvas, 80 x 66 inches; and "Autumn in Africa, Winter in Berlin", acrylic on canvas 80 x 68 inches; contain recreated Matisse paintings. "La Japonaise: Woman Beside the Water" (MOMA) peeks out from beneath high key, almost day-glo color in "The Unexpected Guest". The Fauve background and the graffiti-like quality of Knox’s exquisite color and frenetic brushwork create a dynamic and deeply satisfying work. "A Red Fish and Sculpture", a 1911 Matisse (MOMA), populates "Autumn in Africa, Winter in Berlin". In this painting Knox effectively uses swooshing paint punctuated by wide viscose drips for an altogether different, but equally beautiful, composition.

The geometric black and white floor in the lower right hand corner of "Victory at Sea", acrylic on canvas, 79 x 68 1/2 inches, leads the viewer’s eye to a rich interplay of blue and green vertical brushstrokes. At precisely the right moment they are punctuated by horizontal streaks. Emotionally one is transported by these bravura strokes and colors while one’s mind is trying to make out the quote in the lower right. The floor... where have I seen that... must be 17th century Dutch... Vermeer?... which one? And indeed it is. The Concert of c. 1665 which is still missing from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

In this series of paintings on view in "Re-Mastered: Paintings by Bob Knox" provides art-lovers with a deeply satisfying sensual and intellectual experience which won’t be quickly forgotten. The exhibition opens on Saturday, April 22 and is on view through Sunday, June 4, 2017 at Andrea S. Keogh Art & Design, 43 West Street (adjacent to The West Street Grill and on the green) Litchfield, Connecticut.