|
As seen in the May 2010 issue of American Art Collector
UNLIKELY BEAUTY
Eric Forstmann takes everyday objects
and arranges them into still life compositions comprised of pleasing shapes,
spaces, and colors. Often disregarded or inanimate objects such as kitchen items, fruit, and shirts
become the subject of his
realistic paintings. “I want to champion junk items, things I find and like,” he continues. “I’m not trying to tell stories but instead
create beauty out of what might not normally be considered beautiful.”
Eckert
Fine Art will be exhibiting Forstmann’s latest still life and interior paintings as well as a few
landscape scenes at
the San Francisco Fine Art Fair held May 21 through 23 at the Fort Mason Center. In October, the gallery
will host a solo show
of his work at its showroom in Kent, Connecticut.
Forstmann
is well-known for his series of shirt paintings in which he places his own dress shirts in different
arrangements of three up to 13. Growing up, Forstmann was expected to become a businessman so the shirts
symbolize his
departure of what was expected of him. Each painting has a different background and represents a progression.
His latest piece is
titled Seven Shirts at 10:40 a.m.
“I
return to that subject because it doesn’t tire me out,” says Forstmann, “and my handwriting
will make it interesting.”
In
his still life compositions, Forstmann seeks to arrange for design rather than for narration.
“Familiar
things placed in the context of an arranged still life give the most mundane and ordinary objects importance.
It
forces the viewer to notice something they may have seen yet perhaps overlooked before,” he notes. “I invite the viewer to
distinguish the relationships between shapes, shadows, and applied light. The lack of a narrative allows
the viewer to formulate a
personal interpretation, relating to each piece on a personalized level.”
Forstmann
places familiar items of varying sizes, color and texture in the table-top still life titled Arrangement
with
Hubcap.
“I’m
happy with the non-narrative arrangement and the way the colors worked out. I think it has a nice, peaceful
overall attitude to it,” the artist says. “It has a sense of a moment in the world I’m
looking for that’s more universal than
particular.”
THE COLLECTORS SAY…
“We have been fortunate to build a collection of Eric’s works over the past several years.
We remain fascinated with the light and
serenity of the paintings. His appeal is universal: color, light and perfection of form whether in a
shirt painting, a landscape or still
life.”
-Mr.
and Mrs. George Garfunkel, New York, New York
|
