▷ Terry Rodgers | Buy Original Art Online

United States • 1947

Biography

Considered as one of the world's most famous representatives of representational painting, Terry Rodgers made a name for himself by depicting what seems to be perfect. At first, the viewers are confused, as the paintings look like they are a part of some advertising campaign. They become trapped in this world and slowly begin to define themselves through media images they are exposed to on a daily basis. Strongly interested in film and photography, these two fields nudged the artist's style in the direction of representational realism.

Born in Newark, NJ, Terry Rodgers grew up in Washington, D.C. He studied Fine Art at the Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he graduated cum laude in 1969. Inspired by the American writers David Foster Wallace and Thomas Pynchon, musicians Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendricks and The Rolling Stones, and influenced by David Salle, Max Beckman, Diego Velászquez, Otto Dix, but also Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodgers chose the oil paint as his favorite medium. It was a logical choice since it possesses greater viscosity and definition than everything but the film, but then, a film requires significant funding and a crew. Considering creativity to be the same as invention, he focuses on perception, making his surrounding the subjects of his paintings. The seductive power of his work is unquestionable, as both man and women are depicted glamorous, their hair being perfect, full lips, and teeth that are sparkling white. As if he's trying to capture all those confusions to which we are all subjected, confronting the desires we all have with the realistic possibilities that are not that perfect.

However, as perfect as this world may seem, Terry Rodgers is fully aware there is no such thing as perfection. With no intention of criticizing anything, he paints what he sees – fragile humans trying to connect with the others. The parties, one of his favorite subjects, often depicted, show just how much it can all be superficial. Every single painting takes a considerable amount of time, and Rodgers manages to finish about 12 to 13 paintings per year. For each of those, he photographs dozens of people in his studio. Sometimes models, sometimes ordinary people, and sometimes celebrities – he finds them everywhere. At restaurants, clubs, streets, airports. One thing is common for them all. Something in their appearance, a detail in their faces, their posture, intrigues the artist, and he invites them to his studio. Rodgers then draws them, slowly drafting the final picture in his imagination. His assistant paints a first, rather a rough color version of the piece in acrylic, before the artist himself begin applying layer upon layer of translucent oil in a process that can last for months. One of the most important parts of the whole process is the thought of the viewers. Since he thinks of them as a part of the concept, Rodgers paints pieces with peculiar, attention-attracting details, or the dimensions of a small cinema screen. These immediately pull the viewers into the semi-imaginary world and make them members in the chain of connections between the figures in the painting. His solo show entitled at Torch Gallery in Amsterdam was on display from October 29, 2016 until December 31, 2016. It marked a self-reflective turn in the artist's oeuvre. Rodgers' new work expands on the feelings of detachment and desire explored in his earlier work while emphasizing a contemporary disconnect between body and mind.

His works is included in prestigious collections such as the Stedelijk Museum-Hertogenbosch, the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung in Munich, the Museum Franz Gertsch in Burgdorf, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Scheringa Museum of Realist Art in Spanbroek, the Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Kunsthalle Krems in Austria, Kunsthalle Emden in Germany, Kunstmuseum Bern and Zentrum Paul Klee, me Berlin, the Helnwein Museum Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague, and the Kunsthalle Rotterdam.

Nationality

American artists