Andy Baird "Perceptions"

The Angela King Gallery to present “Perceptions”- new iconic figures throughout history- by artist Andy Baird
New Orleans, March 10, 2018- In the Angela King Gallery, internationally collected artist, Andy Baird, will be presenting "Perceptions", his most beloved icons rendered in a new genre, Action Impressionism.
A New Technique
Andy: “I start with a color wash to get rid of the white of the canvas. 4 colors dripped randomly and then sprayed with water to bleed them together. Next, I do a black drip outline of the image. When that's dry, I paint nine colors a day (three colors at a sitting) for about thirty days. I try to keep the lines thin by letting
the paint stream off the paint stick before I move it out over the canvas. The idea is to use as many colors as possible to get the color blend I want, but they are not blended on a pallet or on the canvas like an oil painter would do. They are blended by the viewer just as they are in a post-impressionist painting. Next, my goal is to use the streaming technique to develop the subject by outlining it with only implied lines. The edge of a subject is always broken with many colors crossing over that edge. It may be a value change or color change that helps imply that edge. I find that a color’s light reflective value is every bit important
as hue in developing my paintings. I must respect the value changes that define the form of a subject and show its light source. So at the end, the image is not so defined. Edges are broken into separate lines and so are only implied.
The timing for this new idea in painting was perfect for me. I felt that all forms of realism painting and the subjects that go with realism were flooded with artists so I looked to the contemporary genre as the approach I could pursue. This was always a favorite for me, so my mindset was ripe for the idea of action painting. “
A professor of art once compared Andrew Baird’s paintings to the façade of a Gothic Cathedral, “made up of thousands of small fragments that visually dissolve the solidity of the stone into a ‘sensation’ of immateriality.”
Innovation would be too limited a word, but Baird has introduced a new visual vocabulary to Pop art imagery after two years of experimentation and self-training. He has created a genre that combines the physical techniques of Action painting with the pictorial discipline of the Post-Impressionists (call it Action Impressionism?). It is a valuable contribution, one which will likely secure him a place in art history. At the very least, it has enabled the artist to give fresh vitality to the essence of Pop art imagery – the identification and representation of cultural icons, be they individuals, art homages, or common objects. Emerging from a seemingly chaotic interlacing of lines of color, Baird’s imagery gives the sensation of matter without edges, “immateriality”.

Public Days
Friday, March 9 – Monday, April 9, 2018
Opening Reception- Artist in Attendance:
March 10, 2018- 7-9pm
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PRESS CONTACTS
For inquiries related to Perceptions @ Angela King Gallery:
Angela King, 504-524-8211, angela@angelakinggallery.com
For inquiries related to Artsy:
Christi Capoziello- 516-698-8680, christi@angelakinggallery.com