Exhibitions:

VINTAGE VANDALS – Group show at the Canvas Café Gallery
On view July 1 - August 31, 2008, Reception: Friday, August 15, 6 - 9pm
1912 Adams Lane (in Towles Court), Sarasota, FL 34236, T: 941.957.0609, www.canvascafesrq.com

For Vintage Vandals I was asked to find an inexpensive or discarded work of art and to deface it. I must have seen an opportunity for a pun, since I literally painted a face on my chosen piece of vintage art. This act of vandalism was not quite as destructive an affair as it sounded at first. After all, it resulted in the union of two seemingly unconnected aesthetic visions. The viewer can alternately focus on my brush strokes or those of my mysterious collaborator. Since I had the last hand in this piece, I was able to ensure that the final gestalt that emerged was indeed my face. I actually took someone else’s work and made it my own. But I did not feel any remorse. I treated the original with the same respect every living work of art deserves. I did not end the life of an artwork but rather prolonged it in a different form.
When searching for a painting to vandalize, I looked for brushwork that would be compatible with my own. If I was to mess around with another painter’s work I would feel better if there was some artistic kinship, however rudimentary. My search eventually led me to a local thrift store which offered a surprisingly large selection of framed oil paintings. After some deliberation I settled on a pleasant pseudo-impressionistic landscape. It depicted a lone fisherman on an arching stone bridge casting his line into the brook below. Close by stood three massive oak trees. Their branches and foliage loomed overhead and dominated the composition. Not a single leaf was rendered and yet the whole scene was deftly evoked with quick, reductive strokes. The pervasive greens and browns vaguely offended my color sensibilities but nonetheless, I felt an unmistakable affinity with this anonymous artist’s erratic mishmash of marks.
I decided to stick to my favorite subject, the human figure. My plan was to convert the original landscape into a portrait. I wanted to preserve a certain portion of my fellow artist’s brush strokes but not necessarily the shapes they defined, such as the bridge, trees, etc. The solution came instantly: I simply stood the horizontal canvas on its side. The landscape was now no longer recognizable as such. I was now looking at an abstract painting, or rather underpainting. What’s more, the vertical format would better accomodate my figure. Next, very gently, I laid down a face, shoulder, and hands, using the local colors. It was surprising how often I could make use of the existing strokes because their directionality or values coincided with the demands of my subject. A branch, for instance, became a strand of hair, and a trunk became a finger. In this manner I organically incorporated my own marks into my colleague’s marks. Sometimes, fortuitously, the two complemented each other, creating unexpected visual delights. At other times they were completely at odds, in which case I painted over the original marks. I restrained myself quite a bit so as not to ruin the collaborative aspect of the piece.


SWEET ART GALLERY currently has a selection of Daniel Petrov's nude paintings on display
2054 Trade Center Way, Naples, FL 34109, T: 239.597.2110, www.thesweetartgallery.com


CANVAS CAFE has a selection of Daniel Petrov's paintings on long-term display in the Green Room
1912 Adams Lane (in Towles Court), Sarasota, FL 34236. T: 941.957.0609, www.canvascafesrq.com



Classes:

EMOTIONAL FIGURE PAINTING - Instructor: Daniel Petrov
Saturdays, August 2 - September 6, 2008 (1 – 3:30pm)
The Arts Center, 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33701, T: 727.822.7872, www.theartscenter.org


EXPRESSIVE FIGURE PAINTING - Instructor: Daniel Petrov
Mondays 6 - 9pm: 9/2 - 10/7/08; 10/21 - 12/2/08; 1/13 - 2/24/09; 3/3 - 4/7/09; 4/21 - 5/26/09
Demonstration on 10/12/08, 2 - 4pm
Wednesdays 1 - 4pm: 9/3 - 10/8/08; 10/22 - 12/3/08; 1/7 - 2/11/09; 2/18 - 3/25/09; 4/1 - 5/19/09
Demonstration on 9/14/08, 2 - 4pm
Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236, T: 941.365.2032, www.artsarasota.org


EXPRESSIVE FIGURATIVE PAINTING WITH WATER MEDIA - Spring 2009, dates and times TBA
Ringling College of Art + Design, Continuing Studies & Special Programs
2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236, T: 941.955.8866, www.ringling.edu