Idol Hours Group Show at London Miles

Idol Hours, a group show of re-interpreted old masterpieces by contemporary artists,
opens this Friday, November 12th, at London Miles Gallery in London!



Opening Friday, November 12th 2010
7pm to 11pm.
London Miles Gallery.
242 Acklam Road. Unit 303. London.
W10 5JJ. UK

Phone: (44) 020 3170 8618
Email: info@londonmiles.com

view some sneak peeks of the pieces here!

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here is my inspiration piece :


Double Self-Portrait. 1915. by Egon Schiele.

my interpretation (my own double self-portrait) :


Within You, Without You. 14"x11". Mixed Media on Canvas. © 2010.

some progress photos :


initial sketch concepts.


initial concept on canvas...


then i changed to horizontal concept (also because i was working on another piece that was similar in composition).


last stage before finishing (i chanced the face a bit on the foreground after this).


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i got to see a pretty comprehensive Egon Schiele exhibit
some 5 years ago or so, at Neue Galerie here in NYC, which easily changed my life and myself as an artist.
the sheer volume of his prolific works in the short life he lived (not to mention the quality)
really moved and inspired something from within me when i saw them in person.

Schiele painted and drew himself a lot, mostly due to his poverty and not being able to
afford a model frequently.

i had never painted a self-portrait before, as i felt it was a little too self-indulgent on top of
what i consider already pretty self-indulgent... art, itself, that is.
but it turned out to be quite an interesting, introspective process.
since i mostly paint imaginary faces, i initially had to suppress the urge to "beautify" the face as i saw fit
as i usually do.

but soon after, i stopped looking at the reference photos of myself and oddly my own faces
transformed into just another face.
they didn't feel like my own or anyone else's in particular.

people have often asked me in the past who it is that i paint.
it's definitely not me except in the piece above, and it's not really anyone in particular either.
it's just a face. a form. an idea... maybe.
probably.