After talking with filmmaker Chris McKim about his new doc on David Wojnarowicz one of the greatest queer artists in 1980/1990’s, it seemed serendipitous that we also hear from George Towne about his new Exhibit.
Like Wojnarowicz, Towne has made NY ‘s East Village his home and has firmly established himself as part of the art community there. Now he is recognized internationally as one of the best contemporary queer artists working today with his rich and seductive paintings of men.
His models are often friends and former partners and the sexual nature of his painting often comes in the imperfections of his models:. Towne himself calls his style “Painterly Realistic’ and it allows us to be drawn in very close as if we are in the same room. His impossibly stunning work is sexy, highly emotional, and almost impossible to forget.
Towne explains “The men I paint are usually friends of mine, it’s pretty obvious that I find them sexy in some masculine way. So the work at its root is about my obsession with gay male ‘Beauty’ or my ‘Desire’. But I also usually choose friends who have given me something somehow; maybe they’ve taught me something… or they were there for me at a difficult time in my life.”
“Portraiture also fascinates me because it has that element of stopping time. People I love have come and gone in my life, and loss has not always been easy for me to deal with. But if I have been able to paint them, it’s like capturing them and holding them with me forever.”
Towne is about to be part of a Group Show called Painting The Narrative at The National Arts Club in NY’s Gramercy Park from May 4th to June 28th. They will include what Towne calls ‘three of ny greatest hits paintings“. There is at least one other gay artist in the show, named : Ernesto Renda, and on the opening night, there will be a “Pride Outdoors” exhibition at the Club too.
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For more information and to see more of the work check https://www.georgetowneart.com/
Labels: 2021, art, George Towne, nudity, portraits, The National Arts Club
