Focus on Art – June 2011

Focus on Art

By Rob Mohr
robmohr@gmail.com

Original Art Work and Reproductions: The New Reality

 

Providence on occasion juxtaposes realities in ways that enable unusual insight. Such is the case when the new Art House Gallery in Chapala, which features Giclée oil reproductions of works by local artists, invited gifted artist Dan Noll to have a one-man show of his hand-painted copies of great paintings. This exhibition, which opens at 4PM on June 21, will give art lovers a chance to experience these remarkable works which are both affordable and offer a collector the same experience as the original works of art.

Giclée (to spray) is an innovative process in which original art works are scanned digitally and then reproduced by spraying water-based pigments onto canvas or paper with a large inkjet copier which simultaneously seals the paint with an oil-based varnish. The finished copy even smells like an oil painting. These flawless reproductions mean that works once owned and enjoyed by kings and queens may now enhance the quality of life for persons of moderate income. www.chapala.com/ajijicarthouse.html

Dan Noll’s hand-painted copies offer the art collector an opportunity to own great words of art at a fraction of the cost of the originals. As did the apprentices of the greatest artists of the past, Dan copies the paintings of the great masters as a way to deepen his understanding of how artworks shape human understanding of life. Partly as a result of this discipline, Dan has won numerous awards from NY and Los Angeles for his own original paintings.

“Copying the work of a great artist, I have in mind what went into the creation of the original work. You discover the depth of talent that brought the original into being. Even the process of searching for an artist to copy helps me find direction as an artist. I get joy from mastering the medium and love the sense of being alive that painting gives me. Copying helps me look with a critical eye at what is around me, and to understand the discrepancies between my initial perception and what really exists”

Dan is searching for truths that remain stable through time and changes of culture and taste – for the emotion that lies beneath the paint. As he lays down the paint for an apple, then a knife next to it, he, “paints the story of the unseen hand that cuts the apple and then eats it.” www.danielnollstudio.com/

In contrast to hand-painted copies or original works of art, Giclée prints provide local artists an effective and affordable way to legally reproduce their works in a numbered and signed series. Once the image is digitally refined and stored, additional ‘true’ copies can be produced for the artist as needed. Also the artist may change the scale of the reproduction. A small drawing or painting may be enlarged and framed to suit the needs of the art collector. www.giclee.es/

A work of art in an age of mechanical reproductions takes on new meaning and creates an opening, an exposure for humanity to great art which has never existed before. Accessible, quality art may now awaken humanity and shape human life as it never has before.

Art House Gallery in Chapala, Lakeside’s newest art gallery, is open 10 to 5 daily. The gallery – located at Hidalgo #229, one-half block beyond Notario #5, on the left as you enter Chapala from Ajijic – is housed in an old family mansion with gracious rooms and high ceilings and offers the perfect setting for viewing quality artworks. Come and enjoy copies of great masters by Dan Noll and Giclée reproductions of the artworks of a number of area artists. *(All artworks will be for sale.)