In James Gortner’s work, painting
becomes a site of transformation. Here, past lives of materials, images,
and intentions converge. His surfaces are sculptural and layered,
composed of reconstructed artist's paintings and reclaimed paint with
history embedded in their very texture. Drawing from spiritual practice,
dream logic, and art historical tradition, he forges visual languages
that reflect the chaos, hope, and interconnection of the present moment.
In James Gortner’s work, painting
becomes a site of transformation. Here, past lives of materials, images,
and intentions converge. His surfaces are sculptural and layered,
composed of reconstructed artist's paintings and reclaimed paint with
history embedded in their very texture. Drawing from spiritual practice,
dream logic, and art historical tradition, he forges visual languages
that reflect the chaos, hope, and interconnection of the present moment.
Gortner studied at The Art Students League of New York and received
his MFA from Columbia University. His work has been exhibited at the
Fisher Landau Center for the Arts (New York), Mana Contemporary (New
Jersey), San Bernardino County Museum (California), the Museum of
Contemporary Art MAC (Chile), and the RW Norton Art Museum (Louisiana).
His work has been featured in print in New American Paintings, New
American Art Collector Magazine, Men’s Journal, Archatectural Digest,
and The Berliner, among other publications. His art is in numerous
private collections, including President Jiang Zemin of China and
actress Reese Witherspoon. James Gortner lives and works in the West
Village of New York City.
The Darkside Portraits
The Darkside Portraits were made during my two-year residency inside a derelict building in East Bushwick. This was a crumbling cemetery building, a crack house, and an underground hub for ritual Santaria next to Most Holy Trinity Cemetery, edging a neighborhood informally known as “Darkside”. I found that there was poetry in this crumbling building where the cemetery wind blew in differently from the summer to the winter and were water leaked from the roof and froze in buckets and floors broke under foot. Where people lived off the grid of society and on the brink of survival and sanity. I felt I needed to make art about everything this time and personal mission had to teach me. During this time, I painted my fellow residents and made the critical repairs to the building needed for our winter survival. I pieced and patched found materials together to repair walls, windows, roof, floors, and doors. All the while using a similar constructive process as used to make the paintings seen here.
The technique employed to make this work is of my own invention. Several smaller works of art (several canvases, panels, and original works of art made by other people and lost, or left abandoned) have been constructed together to form the paintings' support. Once the arragment was puzzled together to my liking I pinned the found paintings together with steel screws and butressed the work from behind with a traditional wood carpentered lattice. Then sections of the flushed-out painted surfaces were painted over in the range of ways that I paint from realistic to abstract, creating new content while allowing some of the found paintings content to peek through. Each work has been framed with cracked and chipped antique doorway molding also found in Darkside. The working process as well as the space surrounding this project was intended allegory for the collective and transformative power of art.
JAMES GORTNER
Akim, Akim And Black Magic, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Private Collection)
JAMES GORTNER
Ferdinand, Ferdinand And The Bull Fighter, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Private Collection)
JAMES GORTNER
Terry, Two Swans, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Available)
JAMES GORTNER
Hans, Raised By The Wolves, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Private Collection)
JAMES GORTNER
Brenda, Crossroads, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Private Collection)
JAMES GORTNER
Self-Portrait, In The Basement, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 62 in x 80 in
(Private Collection)JAMES GORTNER
Adreese, Dragon At The Gate. 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Available)
JAMES GORTNER
Lisa, Lisa At The Door, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Private Collection)
JAMES GORTNER
Ritchie, Rich, 2005-2007
Reclaimed oil and acrylic paint on assembled found paintings, 83 in x 70 in
(Available)
JAMES GORTNER
Items From Around The Studio, 2005-2007
dimensions variable
To inquire about curating an exhibition of new works in this series at your museum or gallery, please contact the artist.