LARRY PRESTON
Reflecting Light
Still life painting is one of the most timeless art genres, with Old Masters having painted flowers, fruits and more for centuries. Massachusetts-based artist Larry Preston brings the treasured techniques of those still life visionaries into the contemporary world through meticulous, and sometimes precarious, arrangements of everyday objects. Preston thrives on silhouetting the subjects against stark backgrounds, similar to those artists who came before him, but also delves deep into the objects themselves focusing on the unique surfaces, reflections and light.
May 1 through June 8, Preston’s newest still lifes will be on display at William Baczek Fine Arts in Northampton, Massachusetts. These latest paintings, as the artist explains, show his exploration of technique and desire to push the work in
new directions. Preston elaborates, “As my experience grows, I hope that the paintings grow with it.”
The still life setup is the foundation of every painting Preston creates, with him moving items in, out and around the scene to find just the right look. He then works from life and from photographs—ephemeral subjects tend to be spoiled by the time he is done painting—honing in on the nuances of each item.
“Most of my still lifes are set in the exact same setting. There’s a window [in my studio] that faces south and depending on the time of day, it changes the mood of something,” he says, adding that the light on the subjects can dictate the scene. For instance, the plastic bag in Lemons in Plastic has different light inside the bag than it does outside the bag, and then the light that reflects off the bag has variances as well. “I think it looks cool and it’s challenging to paint,” Preston explains. “There are a lot of different levels of light that are fun for me to paint. With all the paintings, I like putting hard surfaces next to soft surfaces and shiny surfaces with older and duller surfaces.”
One of his other paintings for the show, Wood & Tins, is an example of the latter idea, as it combines older and newer metal cans along with several wooden items. He shares, “It was so much fun for me to paint because you have the beautiful, old wood and the tins with the different patinas on each one, and I love painting patinas and old things.”
Preston will have approximately 20 new works in the show, and he will be on hand for an opening reception at the gallery on May 4 from 5 to 7 p.m.
William Baczek Fine Arts
36 Main Street • Northampton, MA 01060 (413) 587-9880 • www.wbfinearts.com