 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
BACKGROUND
Stanleah is an art team who have been painting together for the past fifteen years. In the very beginning of their collaboration, the team exhibited in their own gallery, Blue River Gallery, in Breckenridge, Colorado. When Leah fell ill with altitude sickness, the couple moved to California but continued to sell directly to a collector base rather than through another gallery. Their reputation continued to grow and they became quite well known for producing large beautiful paintings which graced the walls of the large beautiful homes of their clients in Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego, and Palm Desert. (See San Diego Home/Garden, Nov. 1999 and Ranch & Cove, Aug. 2001) During this period they did a series of paintings for children which generated national attention (see Fine Art Magazine, Fall, 1998). Their children’s paintings, ironically enough, were more sophisticated than their prior work, i.e. much more multi-dimensional and symbolic. They developed an iconic, grandfatherly rabbit figure intended to be an inspiration for baby boomers who seemed to be experiencing difficulties with their evolving role as grandparents. This series, published by Meisner & Co., created a lot of buzz at New York Artexpo. Little did the team realize it at the time, but an even more dramatic turn in their journey was fast approaching. It began with a meeting with a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks who essentially told the team they had been wasting their gifts up to that point by producing primarily decorative work and that their survival—on many levels—depended on making radical changes. This wakeup call fully resonated with the team and they resolved to create work which would be truthful and intended to do some good for the planet and its beings. It is not as if they were not starting with a great many advantages. Their basic technique at that point was very highly developed. As a team they complemented each other, partnered in a synergistic, creative fusion, being much the better artist together than either could be individually. They are also, after all, a woman and a man who, together, manage to transcend gender in a way that is virtually impossible for an individual artist. The team’s standard way of working is to retreat and create a body of work. When this outburst feels complete, they come forward and share it publicly. Five years ago they moved from San Diego to Santa Barbara and became interested in Chumash Indians. This interest ultimately grew into a collection of paintings based on the sacred places of various indigenous peoples and the many things these tribes have in common with one another. Commonality is a recurrent theme in their work. As are connections. They constantly point out the trends which tie us all together as if to reinforce how very much we belong here together—people with people, people with animals in a culture of power shared with rather than power lorded over. Two and a half years ago Stanleah moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They were immediately enchanted by the light of this magical place and, as is their wont, withdrew to work things out in a new body of work. This new group of paintings is quite unlike anything they have ever done, sourced as it is, they truly believe, not in their minds or hearts, but rather in their souls. Earlier, they had always empathized with the perspective of Marcel Duchamp who once explained “For me the title was very important…I wanted to put painting once again at the service of the mind”. But now the paintings are different. One basic difference is a matter of mediums. They still work in a combination of oils and acrylics but the use of oils has vastly increased. They layer much more than they used to, applying odd combinations of color upon color much as painters did half a millennium ago. Perhaps even more critical, the paint is now applied to raw linen rather than canvas. The end product is more in keeping with the themes they manifest. The paintings are softer yet stronger. Angels have become warriors. Warriors have morphed into angels. Spirit—for lack of a better word—permeates every brush stroke. This art team is definitely at an interesting point in their journey being as surprised as they are by their own work as is everyone else who sees it. To reference Duchamp yet again, he believed that the nature of art is dependent on its spectators (“It is the spectators who make the pictures,” Duchamp proclaimed.) Stanleah proposes the inverse with their new paintings: their pictures will make their spectators.
|
