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Artist Statement and Details
I strive to make exquisite paintings, but am also interested in the whole story that an image can tell. Most importantly, there exists a beautiful work of art; but upon closer inspection, the imagery often reveals a surprising and occasionally candid or frank message in the guise of something far more tame. The paintings are frequently inspired by the unconventional and can be highly narrative, even fable like. My work is sprinkled with references to pop culture but is in no way an homage to pop. I am a student of pop culture and I admire unusual people who had the courage to be themselves and follow their own star. The characters I choose and combine to tell my stories can be historical, fictional, celebrity or personal acquaintances, but they possess a beauty often missed by the mainstream. I use pop references as a tool and metaphor for my own discourse and humor as device for attracting attention to an often serious subject matter. The story is a departure point from which I create an image that should intrigue and delight whether the viewer actually recognizes the story or characters or not. What consumes nearly one hundred percent of my time is not the telling of the story but the monumental effort to make the artwork look right, to be well painted.
I am very concerned with the actual quality of the painted image. The surface of the work is rich because of the many layers of paint applied over months to achieve the fullness and complexity of color and value that makes the paintings glow. I paint, repaint and repaint until I am satisfied with every element. As the painting nears completion and I know just how every detail should be executed, I quickly repaint almost the entire surface so that the months of work do not appear labored but instead seem fresh. Thus, complicated brush strokes and modeling seem nearly effortless yet exact. However, the under painting reveals that the finished work was not created in a few hours, but carefully planned and developed over time. Because of this I no longer see the graphic content when enjoying the finished work. I look right through the occasional car crashes, corpses, freaks, or unattractive people, and just see gorgeous painting and color.
I consider myself a colorist and remain an inventive painter. Just because I have painted something before, such as sky, water or flesh, I do not know how I will paint those same subjects the next time. I have no formulas or routines. I have to discover how to paint a subject in each and every new painting. There is very little repetition. I have to reinvent the wheel every time. Because of this I am not a particularly prolific painter. Almost all of my work takes at least a year to complete, yet I do work on multiple pieces at a time. I also do not work in series, I have to find a new subject and story for each work. This keeps me very interested in my own work, slows down my output, but ensures the uniqueness and freshness of each painting. I am not a production painter, there are no shortcuts and I value each individual painting.
In addition to cleverness of composition, color and stroke, an important part of the beauty of a work is its craftsmanship. I build my canvases myself. I have rarely used acrylic gesso as a preparation but instead follow a laborious process of sizing with hide glue and then coating with oil primer. True, this is better for conservation, in fact the painting could actually be removed from the canvas if need be, but I just like the surface and solidity it gives as well as confidence in the durability of the painting. I always paint with oil paint, but the sides are acrylic for the sake of practicality. I do not varnish the work as I prefer a matte and varied surface and hate a reflective surface that can make the image hard to see from certain angles. Most of the paintings are wired for easier hanging, but the best way to hang them is with sawtooth clips on two corners diagonally opposed. That holds the canvas flush to the wall and it never has to be straightened.
Details about individual works: Much of my work is very narrative and tells complicated stories. A few examples follow to illustrate what I mean. Often you will find text next to a painting on this site to help explain the content and imagery.
Through the Looking Glass compares the career of singer Yma Sumac to the story of Alice in Wonderland in order to illustrate the power we have to create our own destiny. Claiming to be a descendant of Inca Kings and having learned to sing by imitating birds while wandering Peruvian jungles as a girl, Miss Sumac gained fame exploiting her colorful heritage in a full four octave range. However, rumors persisted that she was born in Brooklyn purely of European descent with the name Amy Camus, which spelled backwards becomes Yma Sumac. My painting depicts the rumored young Amy gazing at her reflection as the mature Yma in her bathroom mirror. Elements of the bathroom including her own name are transformed into the Peruvian jungle and Yma as they are reflected in the mirror demonstrating we create our own reality and thus our own reflection. So unlike Alice, we do not have to go through the looking glass to find another world, all we must do is invent it. Thus anyone can be an Inca Princess.
'No People like Show People' is a nostalgic look back at freak shows and the quality of life they afforded the anatomical freaks in contrast to the "pretty" and politically correct emotional freaks paraded and gawked at on daytime TV talk shows.
"Diva Dish" is all about story telling. The figures in the foreground are laughing recounting one tale after another until they merge and flow together in a visual way hovering above. Text and images are layers anecdotes involving divas Maria Callas, Kathleen Battle, and Judy Garland among others. The painting illustrates how in conversation one story leads to the next and the next. It explores a morbid fascination with death and celebrity, the nature of gossip and bad taste, and the taboo of pleasure derived from someone else’s pain. “We all have the strength to endure the misfortunes of others,” and this painting is an investigation into this rich theme.
'Tiramisu or Walking Cactus Woman', was painted in tribute to my friend Casimiro whose name I couldn't remember so I called him Tiramisu. He had three loves: cacti, Giacometti, and Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin. I combined all three in the form of Giacometti's 'Woman Walking.'
In addition to these works, I am also a painter of the amazing Colorado landscape, especially the Maroon Bells area near Aspen where I grew up and my family still resides. I also enjoy painting the figure and the animated conversations that happen around a card table at a bridge game or at a meal. Italy, France, Nantucket, the beach and the mountains are frequently the settings of my paintings. Commissions are cheerfully accepted.
BIOGRAPHY: Tyler Alpern is an emerging artist and painter living in Colorado. His work can be described as technically accomplished narrative painting with a contemporary slant. He was educated at Occidental College in LA, at two different schools in Rome, Italy, and earned his MFA from the University of Colorado where he occasionally teaches among other places. His work has been sold to collectors living on both coasts, inbetween and in Australia. His work is currently on display at Cliffside on Nantucket, and at Front Range Community College. Locally Tyler's paintings were shown many times at both the Boulder Public Library and the University of Colorado. Tyler curated and exhibited work at Boulder's Dairy Center for the Arts in 2004 and was on the BCAP Art Auction Committee. In 2006, Tyler curated an exhibition that includes his work at the University of Colorado and was included in a show at the Next Gallery in Denver. In 2007, his controversial peice Denail represented the letter D in Art from A to Z, and Tyler appeared in and on the cover of the new James Spada book. In 2008, his portrait of Yma Sumac was featured on the cover of her biography. An article about Tyler and his work appeared in the 2008 launch of Urban Molecule. A constant source of inspriation and learning are the college students of all ages that Tyler has taught for nearly 20 years. An amateur historian, Tyler also researches and reveals fascinating stories that sometimes are documented and retold in his paintings. Gender, beauty, movement and form are some of the subjects Tyler has explored in his many collaborations with other artists. Posing for pioneering gay artist Don Bachardy brought together Tyler's love of art and his deep interest in gay history. Rest assured that Tyler does not usually write about or refer to himself in the 3rd person. | ||
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