Martin Lawrence Galleries Presents The Works of Photorealist Painters Douglas Hofman and Ben Charles Weiner

When

Fri, Mar 27, 2020    
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
free

Where

Martin Lawrence Galleries
457 West Broadway, New York, NY, 10012

Event Type

SOHO’S PREMIER FINE ART GALLERY TO HOLD OPENING RECEPTION ON FRIDAY, MARCH 27TH AT 457 WEST BROADWAY, NYC

In very individualized ways, Doug Hofmann and Ben Charles Weiner each weave everyday life in magically realistic ways. Hofmann, a figurative painter, creates in a style in which realistically depicted human figures are central to and a principal focus of his work. Weiner, a modern realist painter, creates works of abstraction with realistic representation.

“WITH MY PAINTINGS, I STRIVE TO GET A FEELING OF AIR. I WANT TO EXPRESS A ROMANTIC EMOTION.” DOUGLAS HOFMANN

The paintings of Douglas Hofmann are critically acclaimed for their glowing surfaces, detail, and softly lighted forms. Hofmann expertly combines his methods of painting with Old Master techniques, creating a beautiful aura of light and atmosphere often found in great Baroque paintings. He pays meticulous attention to detail and creates harmonious compositions with superbly balanced colors and shapes.

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1945 and began his art training after high school at the Maryland Institute of Art. During his first year there, he discovered Joseph Sheppard. “I used to walk down to the first floor and stick my head in this quiet room. You could hear a pin drop. It was Joe Sheppard’s class.” He began studying with Joe, taking on anatomy, drawing, and painting from the model, all of which were new to Hofmann.

He also discovered the Maroger method, which enables the artist to use thin layers of paint and techniques similar to those of the Old Masters. Through his burgeoning interest in the Old Masters, Hofmann began to develop his taste.

Vermeer’s interiors with figures became one of his favorite themes. Emulating Vermeer, he painted situations from his home and studio using his wife and children as his models. Hofmann later expanded his subject matter to include his memorable nudes and his much-loved ballet works. “I borrow from everything I like, for example, the works of Vermeer, Rubens, Degas, and Mucha.  I’m using a Dutch technique but with an Art Nouveau model, Victorian too. And I love the female figure; I think it’s the most beautiful thing there is.” His subjects have changed over the years, but women have continued to dominate his panels and prints.

Hofmann’s works have been exhibited in numerous groups and one-person shows at prestigious galleries and museums in every major city in the U.S.A. and Japan, many of which have sold out entirely during their opening nights. He has received numerous awards for his works, including first prize at the Peale Museum in Baltimore, 1970; “Best Paintings in the Traditional Manner” at the Baltimore Museum, 1971, “Best in Show” at the Washington County Museum, Hagerstown, MD, 1972; “Best in Show” at the Center Club in Baltimore, 1973 and 1978. In 1988 he was awarded a Certificate of Merit for his painting The Secret by the Salmagundi Club at its Eleventh Annual Nonmembers Juried Exhibition.

“With my paintings, I strive to get the feeling of air. There is a ‘signature’ to the work that reveals my hand, my feelings, and my personality. You can see the manipulation of the paint and the brush strokes. I don’t want to paint everyday scenes. I’m a dreamer. I want to express a romantic feeling in my work. This appeals to me as a form of self-expression in today’s world.

“I’M INTERESTED IN THE WAY A MICROSCOPIC VIEW ALLOWS A PERSON AN INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORKINGS OF A SUBJECT.” BEN CHARLES WEINER

Ben Weiner is a New York-based contemporary artist, whose work bridges the seemingly opposite styles of hyper-realism and process-based abstraction. As a free-thinking abstract artist, Weiner always challenges himself, as well as his audience, to adapt to new mediums and perspectives in modern consumerism.

Fascinated by the substances we put into our bodies, Weiner uses art as an extension of his curiosity and judgment to challenge what we think about the products we buy and consume every day. Weiner was greatly influenced by his parents-scientists and unconventional free-thinkers, self-labeled as ‘hippies.’ Weiner’s work often depicts materials used to create illusions in art and everyday life, such as oil paint on a palette, hair gel, and jewels and beeswax used in sculpture. From these photos, Weiner paints beautiful large-scale compositions in oil. Playing with the ambiguity of his paintings and choosing “incongruous but evocative titles” gives him the freedom to explore the complicated relationship between our imaginations and the external cues that activate them.

“I always wanted to be an artist, and I had this scientific/materialist prototype of doing experimentation with the aim of answering big questions. Early on, I was drawn to a bunch of the ’60s and 70’s theorists like Clement Greenberg, Barnett Newman, Robert Smithson, and Marshall McLuhan, who applied materialist concepts to art. For me, it’s an ontological pursuit—an access to existence beyond the anthropocentric.”

Martin Lawrence Galleries
Opening Reception Friday Night
March 27th, 2020, 6-8 PM
457 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012
www.martinlawrence.com

About Martin Lawrence Galleries
Since 1978, Martin Lawrence Galleries, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut with nine gallery locations nationwide including New York, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco, Costa Mesa, La Jolla, Maui has been assisting and advising collectors as they acquire fine art. MLG is the publisher of fine art prints and sculpture and is also the home to modern and contemporary masters like Picasso, Chagall, Warhol, Calder, Magritte, Basquiat, and Murakami. We are incredibly proud to have lent and exhibited over 200 masterworks, created by more than 30 different artists, to 30+ world-class museums around the globe including the Louvre, the Pompidou, the Metropolitan, the Whitney, the National Gallery, the Tate and the Hermitage-where we are the sole sponsor of the first-ever exhibition of the work of Erté, the father of art deco and we proudly publish works by artists including Kondakova, Hallam, Bertho, Fressinier, Lalonde, and Deyber. For more information visit martinlawrence.com

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