The above image may or may not look familiar to you – either from your last acid trip at a Russian bath house or from the cover of the recent edition of independent art magazine, Juxtapoz.
These psychedelic ladies are the handiwork of California-based artist, Richard Colman, and are currently on view at Chandran gallery in San Francisco. The featured works are slightly more colorful, less geometric versions of the body of work Colman been showing internationally for the last decade.
The featured paintings contain simplistic forms void of detail, but full of intriguing narrative. Smooth legs extend and overlap, wavy haired women barf rainbows, and candelabras jut out from the bases of heads. The side profiled bodies are reminiscent of ancient Egyptian wall paintings while the face’s blank stares and drinking jugs are distinctly Byzantine.
Colman is a self-professed obsessive artist, constantly consumed by ideas for his paintings. He frequently looks back through history for inspiration, but finds ripe material in everyday life as well.
“There is no shortage of inspiration out there; the trick is how to turn it into something that’s interesting,” Colman once said in AN INTERVIEW.
As for his creative process, it’s been a long journey from style, to subject matter, to color. “A lot of times, the work I’ve done or the work I’m doing informs itself, especially at this point, having produced a lot of work over the years. A seemingly unimportant detail from work ten years back, or something like that, will work its way into the newer stuff. It all keeps informing itself,” Colman tells Juxtpoz.
Colman studied at the school of The Museum Of Fine Arts in Boston and has worked in every media from pen and ink to large wall installations. Originally influenced by skater and graffiti culture, he has created murals for corporate brands like Coca-Cola and Mattel, as well as shown at prestigious galleries and art fairs throughout the world’s most cosmopolitan cities.
Faces, Figures, Places and Things will be on view at the Chandran gallery in San Francisco through November 6th. Click here to see the rest of Colman’s portfolio or follow him on social media for updates on his current work.
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