Tuesday, July 19, 2016

NY 66

I recently came across several photographs of scarred walls and abandoned storefronts, many with graffiti, that I had taken in 1966 while at NYU.  
Some of these, or parts of them, were incorporated into paintings and prints, others stand alone as striking images. Still more may reappear in the future!
Billy 1966
Blue Spiral 1966
Bumba 1966
Teds wall 1966

Monday, June 6, 2016

New York: Mini Collages 1966/67

Fifty years ago in New York, in addition to painting and printmaking I created a series of (very) small collages, which until now have never seen the light of day. 
Like some of my paintings of that period (see the previous recent posts) many of these collages employ graphic and text elements.
Here is a selection of these, scanned on a larger scale to reveal the detail (most are only a few inches in any dimension)
35th St Breakdown (1966)  3' x 5'

   
South on Third (1966) 2' x 3.7'                                 Ave A (1967) 2' x 3'

   
0782 (1966/7) 1' x 3'.                 TISH (1966/7)  1' x 3'.

text and images © 2016 Richard D. Perry
all rights reserved

Saturday, February 20, 2016

New York 1965 - 1967. Part Three

Living as we did just off Union Square above the Village, we often crisscrossed the square, notable mainly for its low end storefronts and grungy subway station. In the sixties it was less than chic, although Andy Warhol's Factory and Max's Kansas City made their appearance there.
But its main occupant at the time was S. Klein, a fading discount emporium on the east side of the square with a garish front.  Eventually it closed and the boarded up front was a sorry sight.
I could not resist painting it.

click images to enlarge

text and images © 2016 by Richard D. Perry.  Not to be reproduced without permission.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

New York 1965 - 1967. Part Two

Here are three other paintings from the sixties, all created in New York City and reflecting the cityscape of the time (before Soho and Tribeca, etc)

15th St. 1965



79th St. 1967



Shoes.  1967

text and images © 2016 by Richard D. Perry.  Not to be reproduced without permission.

Friday, January 22, 2016

New York 1965 - 1967. Part One

I arrived in New York from England in 1965 to study at New York University and the Pratt Graphic Arts Institute. 
Prior to my arrival I had been focusing on printmaking, but living in the city near Greenwich Village and newly exposed to the exciting and rapidly changing urban culture and art world of New York, I rented space in a communal loft studio and began painting again.
Painting for the first time on canvas and now incorporating collage using graphics, found objects and torn playbills, my work, although still structured, took on a much looser, more textured look. 

I have already featured some paintings from these years on this blog, but here are three never before shown:
  
Revolution. 1966                                        FIVE. 1967


Jack. 1967

click images to enlarge

text and images © 2016 by Richard D. Perry.  Not to be reproduced without permission.
see my earlier New York paintings