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oil pastels, same kind of process that i like doing with the charcoal but the colors make it more dynamic and interesting/more design-y

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experiment with charcoal, i like it but i need to figure out how to make it more design

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this was my original idea, i took some photos and was going to print them out and cut them up and experiment with that. it’s more experimental than the other idea so i think i’ll go back to it. the purpose of this is to show a fragmented state of mind and demonstrate the feeling of days blurred together and being uncomfortable in your skin

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i don’t like this and i’m in between ideas. this is more of a design idea i would execute it better with other materials, it’s not very experimental. it’s supposed to symbolize growing apart

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GEORGE TOOKER (1920-2011) Reality Returns as a Dream

NEW YORK, New York

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May 17, 2011

I am after painting reality impressed on the mind so hard that it returns as a dream, but I am not after painting dreams as such, or fantasy. - George Tooker

"George Tooker: Reality Returns as a Dream" celebrates the life and art of a painter whose powerful imagery and technical mastery made him one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation. For over sixty years, Tooker (1920-2011) has been highly regarded for his luminous and often enigmatic paintings. His themes range from alienation and the dehumanizing aspects of contemporary society to personal meditations on the human condition. Over the course of his long career, he created fewer than 170 paintings, most of which are seldom on public view. As such, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see a select group of works from museums, private collections, and the artist's estate that span his career, from the late 1940s to the 2000s.

A deeply spiritual and contemplative man, Tooker created hauntingly beautiful modernist works through an intuitive artistic process combined with a precise and deliberate technique. "My pictures start on a fairly unconscious level," he explained, and while his work is essentially representational, he felt that he was more involved in creating abstractions than in depicting reality. He was not interested in rendering events or documenting life, but was after the essence of experience. In doing so, he chose a timeless method to pursue his purpose. He preferred working in egg tempera, a traditional Renaissance medium that produces a rich, lustrous finish yet demands focused attention and exacting execution. His figures, too, often embody classical sensibilities even when they are placed in contemporary settings.

By reducing action and anecdote to subtle gestures and juxtapositions that carry meaning and express essential truths, Tooker created modern allegories without traditional narrative content. The curator and ballet enthusiast, Lincoln Kirstein, once defined his work as Magic

Realism, which has since been frequently used to describe his paintings. Tooker never cared much for that characterization, though, because he considered his work to be rooted in actual human experience, not fantasy or Surrealism. "I am after painting reality impressed on the mind so hard that it returns as a dream, but I am not after painting dreams as such, or fantasy," he has said.

In the early 1940s, Tooker studied with Reginald Marsh, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Harry Sternberg at the Arts Students League in New York. He met Paul Cadmus in 1944, and then Jared and Margaret French, artists who became lifelong friends. Cadmus and French, in particular, encouraged him to adopt egg tempera as his primary medium. Tooker first came to prominence for imaginative visions that expressed the uncertainty of the Cold War era. He also frequently addressed issues of race and oppression in his work, and was very involved with the Civil Rights Movement, in one instance marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, Alabama.

In 1960, Tooker relocated from Brooklyn to a house that he and his partner had built in Hartland, Vermont, not far from the French's summer home. The relative solitude of rural Vermont suited Tooker, allowing him to concentrate almost entirely on his art and spiritual life. He continued to paint penetrating critiques of contemporary society, such as Landscape with Figures (1965-66), a powerful work that explores the dehumanization and estrangement of nameless individuals in the modern world. Increasingly, though, he focused on more personal concerns, creating images like Embrace of Peace II (1988), which resonates with compassion and tolerance, expressing his lifelong belief in the enduring themes of human fellowship and universal brotherhood.

GEORGE TOOKER (1920-2011)
Reality Returns as a Dream
Memorial Exhibition
June 9 - August 5, 2011

Gallery Talk: Thursday, June 9, 6:30PM, reception to follow:

Curators Robert Cozzolino (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) and Marshall Price (National Academy Museum), organizers of
George Tooker: A Retrospective (2009), discuss Tooker's art and life. Artist Kurt Kauper will moderate the discussion. Please RSVP by June
7th: 212-247-2111.

Upcoming Exhibitions:
Eric Aho September 8 - October 8
Barbara Takenaga October 13 - November 12
Alexi Worth October 13 - November 12

***
DC Moore Gallery specializes in contemporary and twentieth-century art. The gallery is located at
535 West 22nd Street, 2nd Floor and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 6. Beginning
the week of July 3rd summer hours are Monday to Friday, 10 to 6. Press previews can be
arranged prior to the exhibition. For more information, for photographs, or to arrange a viewing,
please call Kate Weinstein at 212-247-2111.

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GEORGE TOOKER (1920-2011) Reality Returns as a Dream

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I am after painting reality impressed on the mind so hard that it returns as a dream, but I am not after painting dreams as such, or fantasy. - George Tooker "George Tooker: Reality Returns as a Dream" celebrates the life and art of a painter whose powerful imagery and technical mastery made h...

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Architectural Monotony by Robert Ullmann

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Architectural Monotony is a photograph by Robert Ullmann which was uploaded on March 19th, 2011. The photograph may be purchased as wall art, home decor, apparel, phone cases, greeting cards, and more. All products are produced on-demand and shipped worldwide within 2 - 3 business days.

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my SI explores the feeling of monotony and existentialism in life. My first SI piece is about the feeling of going in circles. It’s the feeling of knowing what the world looks like, but not feeling like you’re apart of it, like everything just feels off and wrong. Days blend together, shown in the background being of a blended sunrise and sunset, this is also shown in the repeating houses that turn into blurred and hard to distinguish shapes. The purpose of the girl walking upside down is that it represents her displacement, as well as the outline around her figure which further separates her from the  scene. The significance of the purple walkway is that it shows movement, representing the movement in life; it also demonstrates the blur of reality. This blurring of reality is further explored in my choice of unrealistic colors, the colors contrast with each other creating a balanced and varied composition.

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this night has opened my eyes by the smiths
child psychology by black box recorder
no surprises by radiohead

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nausea by jean paul sature
the stranger by albert camus
the vampire chronicles by anne rice