April 2005                                                                                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norman Lundin: Views Out a Window and Other Paintings
Exhibition Dates: April 16th- May 28th, 2005
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 16th, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10:00am - 5:30pm, Saturday: 11:00am - 5:30pm

Koplin Del Rio Gallery is pleased to announce its third exhibition of new works by Seattle based artist Norman Lundin.

Over the course of nearly four decades of painting, Norman Lundin has often turned to still lifes. Influenced by early 20th Century Scandinavian painters such as Vilhelm Hammershoi, Lundin’s sparse arrangements of objects in his Seattle studio are painted with long shadows and subtle tones that reflect the city’s ominous skies and diffused sunlight, leading to a restrained expressive presence. Subtle associations of colors slow down the pace of looking to establish a meditative mood and encourage contemplation.

Objects are painted, not solely for their intrinsic interest, but to explain the volume of space, which is the intended subject matter. The scenes tend to be populated with very ordinary objects. Lundin’s intention then, is to make the viewer aware of the time of day, the volume of space and sense of physical location. If negative space is the intended subject matter, then the objects must have neutral emotional associations. These formal principles are evident in the large painting entitled “Startled Horse”.
In this piece, Lundin plays with the viewers perception as he invites you into his studio space, rendering not only the sketch of the horse, but all the walls, floor boards and objects encompassing the negative space surrounding the drawing taped on the wall. The overall effect of the composition creates a window to an intimate almost voyeuristic experience.

Norman Lundin was born in Los Angeles in 1938. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Oslo before receiving his MFA from the University of Cincinnati. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including grants from the Fulbright, The Ford Foundation, and the Tiffany Foundation, as well as fellowships from the NEA and the Washington State Council on the Arts. A longtime resident of Seattle, Lundin’s work is in many important collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Seattle Art Museum, among others.