PUSHED TO THE EDGE
Works that break boundaries
Innovation is one of the key hallmarks of the artists represented by RJD Gallery, with their figures, interior scenes and more breaking traditional techniques and imagery. A new group show, titled On the Edge Of... that opens July 21, will highlight these elements in the artwork of Frank Oriti, Jackee Sandelands-Strom, Jesse Lane, Pamela Wilson and Rick Garland.
Gallery owner Richard Demato elaborates, “This group of artists continually thinks outside of the ‘frame’ to painstakingly search their souls for what their brushes must reveal to set them free. We’re proud to share their artworks, and hope they touch and push you to the edges of your own imagination and find a place in your heart.” Two of the artists in the show, Oriti and SandelandsStrom, often paint people they have encountered in their daily lives. The works show aspects of their models’ beings—the physicality and the internal self.
Oriti, who is known for his paintings of blue collar workers, often depicts people he knows and finds inspiration from, such as in With or Without II. “I have painted these brothers many times over the years; this piece is a bit of an update from a portrait I painted in 2011,” Oriti shares. “While posed very similarly as in the last painting, here we are able to see a physical and emotional evolution of two hardworking and resilient brothers.”
Hands are often the focal point of Sandelands-Strom’s paintings, showcasing the life that is found within each person through their age, jewelry, tattoos and more. “I am very involved in the tattoo industry and love when I can highlight a woman artist in my paintings. Jessi happens to be a tattoo artist in the U.K., and this was just a casual moment when the decoration of her skin met with the adornment of her jewelry and the rawness of smoking a cigarette,” says the artist of the inspiration for her aptly titled work Jessi. “For me it captures real life as I know it.”
Frequently portrayed in the works of Lane and Wilson are their own emotions or inner thoughts through models or narrative scenes. The images are relatable and can translate to various outputs to the viewers.
Lane’s colored pencil drawing Hypnosis was inspired by the idea of obsession. He says, “Sometimes I find myself fixating on certain things for long periods of time. It’s haunting in a way. People with minor roles in my life in reality can begin to dominate my thinking. I think we all have something that has hypnotized us. While it’s insignificant to many, it’s a space we sometimes visit.”
Sever Me is a personal painting for Wilson, as it is a “direct response to navi-
gating large, frightening and sudden changes in my life,” she says. “Three traumas occurred in sequence: an emotional breakup, an accident requiring surgery and my father’s death. I felt weak and torn. I couldn’t see 2 feet in front of myself. I questioned whether to ‘right the ship’ and go back to what I know or to call the chaos my new home.”
Garland’s interior paintings are often of abandoned or forgotten buildings, but yet they show the life and history of what was once there. In his painting The Old Chair, a red upholstered chair occupies one corner of the graffiti covered building while through the archway is a brightly lit, but rundown staircase. “The old chair stands resolute and removed, observing the ongoing changes happening around it,” Garland says. “There’s an element of waiting and calm contentment. I like the stoic refusal of the fabric of this place to yield to the surface changes. The glamour and style seem unaffected by anything thrown at it.”
On the Edge Of… will be on view in the Bridgehampton, New York, gallery through August 12, with some of the works also displayed during Market Art + Design from July 5 to 8 at the Bridgehampton Museum.
RJD Gallery 2385 Main Street • Bridgehampton, NY 11932 (631) 725-1161 • www.rjdgallery.com