TOM BLACKWELL: The Complete Paintings, 1970–2014
TOM BLACKWELL: The Complete Paintings, 1970–2014
BY: LINDA CHASE
PREFACE BY: LOUIS K. MEISEL
FOREWORD BY: CARTER RATCLIFF
Hardcover
11 x 12 inches, 240 pages + 2 gatefolds
291 color plates + 11 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-9888557-7-9
$95 | £75 | €90
Tom Blackwell is known for his work in Photorealism, a stylistic genre noted for its ardent embrace of photographic source material. In 1969, he began a series of brashly beautiful motorcycle paintings that established him as one of the founders and foremost artists of the movement. The rich subject material offered by urban store windows became another abiding interest. In his store-window paintings, Blackwell captures the counterpoint between the idealized reality within the store display and the bustling urban life reflected in the glass. As author Linda Chase remarks, “The magic of these paintings resides in the artist’s ability to transform the arbitrary photographic information into dynamic and complex artistic compositions, revealing and clarifying the image while preserving its mystery.”
In conjunction with his Photorealist paintings, Blackwell has produced a related body of work that is allegorical in its perspective. Combining photo-derived images, he addresses themes such as the passage of time, the fragility of nature, and the continuity that weaves through human history. The paintings, rich in symbolism and interpretive possibilities, fascinate and impress viewers with the breadth of Blackwell’s abilities.
Linda Chase is the author of several works on contemporary Realism in addition to monographs on Photorealist painters including Ralph Goings, John Salt, and Richard Estes. She has been the director and curator of national and international Realist exhibitions and has written numerous catalogues for museums and galleries. Carter Ratcliff is a leading art critic, author, poet, and contributing editor of Art in America. His books on art include The Fate of a Gesture: Jackson Pollock and Postwar American Art, as well as John Singer Sargent, Alex Katz, Andy Warhol, and others. Louis K. Meisel is an American author, art dealer, and proponent of the Photorealist art movement. He has written four volumes documenting Photorealism, illustrated with paintings by the leading artists of the genre over the last fifty years. Meisel continues to promote Photorealism and organizes international exhibitions for leading Photorealist artists.