February 2005: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stephen
Namara: Allusions and Variations,
Paintings and Drawings
Exhibition Dates: February 26 – April 9, 2005
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 26, 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 seventh
exhibition with Bay Area artist, Stephen Namara.
In this series of work, Namara continues to explore
and expand the realm of the still life as he depicts
fruits and inanimate objects with a force of spirit
and personality that is unique. The lush, anthropomorphic
fruit in Namara's still lifes signify consistencies
in bodies of flesh: the contour of an apple echoes
the image of a plump cheek, the curves of a pear
suggest a voluptuous woman's body. Namara incorporates
linear and architectural elements into these compositions,
contrasting formal design with organic and sinuous
forms. Classical concerns such as perspective, color,
and light continue to motivate Namara, and his work
retains a fresh, process-oriented quality.
Namara’s interest in still lifes is expressed
by the opportunity that it allows him to create
an endless set of allusions and variations. He finds
the genre conducive to expressing emotional and
compositional ideas that he feels cannot be expressed
in the same way as when he works with the human
figure. The other thing to be said about still life
painting and drawing is that for Namara, it is not
simply something static as the name of the genre
implies; but is something that evolves. With these
drawings and paintings Namara is meditative and
contemplative, maintaining an elusive narrative
to be discovered by the viewer.
Born in Uganda in 1953, Stephen Namara now lives
and works in San Francisco. He received his BFA
from the University of Missouri was in the graduate
studies program at California State University,
San Francisco. He exhibited most recently in shows
at The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; Golden
West College, Huntington Beach, CA; and the Luckman
Fine Arts Gallery, Cal State Los Angeles.
For further information or photos, please contact
Eleana Del Rio at (310) 657-9843.
