Russell Reynolds Chicago - Art Collection 2022

Chicago Office Art Collection

“Contemporary life resembles a virtual landscape of windows and screens. We live through our phones and computers. For all the conveniences, this new reality offers, it comes at some expense-we do not experience the world so much as we view it through layers and interfaces. My work responds to this world by exploring the relationship of personal history, landscape, the digital image and recollection. By creating large-scale paintings rooted in color, form and process I investigate the changing, contemporary experience of landscape. I use this process for personal reflection, and a means of investigating past trauma, addiction, and transformation.

I begin my process by taking cell phone pictures through the windows of moving cars, trains and buses. Using the cell phone photos as source material, I depict space, light, color and form seen through movement. Turning the paintings, I work from two directions. Vertical and horizontal drips give a sense of motion, blur forms and build space. I simplify the reflections of lenses and windows into geometric shapes layering the translucent forms over the mark making of organic forms. Abstracting the journey allows me to create new associations and deepen inward reflection.”

Spanish Winds, 2022

Oil on panel

Michael Hoffman

Michael Hoffman

Ibeza Daydream, 2022

Oil on panel

Night Swimming, 2022

Oil on panel

Michael Hoffman

My paintings are meditative studies done with rich colors and bold graphic compositions - I often incorporate circles, grids and stripes. The universality and appeal of this symbology pulls the viewer in and holds them there to explore the subtle details. I try to create work that both captivates and calms. I work with abstractions because I want to put forth something universal that can be open to interpretations that are unique to everyone and can continue to evolve over time. A common theme in my painting is the relationship between rigid linear form and the organic flow of nature, order and disorder. I feel this is reflective in many ways of our society and peoples’ longing for something more than the sterility of technology in our modern lives. I believe inclusion of these two elements creates a certain universal harmony in many of my paintings.

Ben Tinsley

Hideout, 2019

Oil on canvas

My roots began in a traditional foundation with a lot of observational work. In my early years, I felt a strong connection to the figure, which then developed to a real passion for the landscape.

Landscape painting was the first step towards a more abstract way of thinking about my work. Shadow and light, and the breakdown of space and color relationships became more of a focus than the object I was painting. I find inspiration in my daily life, in things that exist within and around me. I’ve always been drawn to the imperfections I observe, like a glitch in the screen/monitor or a torn billboard revealing an image underneath. To me, these imperfections have potential with endless possibilities.

My paintings are objects, spaces, walls, and windows, all intersecting and trying to inhabit a physical space. But it’s also a removed space that can be here or not, at the same time.

Cole Pierce

256(Vowel Country), 2021

Acrylic on canvas

My paintings are an investigation into the phenomenon of vision. I implement a relief painting process by masking off geometricbased grids and applying color gradients of acrylic. After multiple layers of masking, accumulated paint forms rigid triangular, circular and fractured shapes. Subtle inconsistencies and accumulated textures create a calculated abstraction with unpredicted forms. Foregrounds blend with backgrounds in all-over compositions that are frenetic and ephemeral, interrupting perception and comprehension.

“Again and again, only what is not continuous can be repeated” Emmanuel Alloa

Erin Kaya

Rose Water, 2022

Acrylic on Canvas

Abstract Artist in love with creating the unknown! Acrylic on canvas, marbling, & photography. I'm a free spirit who loves to dream, who wants the unreachable.

I've been painting and drawing my entire life. Traveling throughout Europe, Turkey, Israel, and Africa for three years, I was introduced to and experienced their cultured and artistic methods. Painting and creating are my therapy, my passion, a piece of my soul. I can't always say how I feel but I try to express it through my work. Painting is a way to let me stop analyzing or stressing. Just relax and release my inner thoughts. Everyday objects intrigue me, looking beyond the form and seeing the abstract. My favorite paintings are always the ones I don't remember painting, I'm someplace else. When you see my work up close, I want you to see the paint moving, the details of the strokes, the layers of paint and then back away from the piece to see a new world. A place you may like to visit, an amazing world you see when looking down out of an airplane.

Beth Adler

Show me Yours, Ishtar, Show me Mine, 2018

I am interested in the intersection of natural forms and synthetic materials and the marks they make. The press is my paintbrush and paper my canvas. Using combinations of woodblock, linoleum, stencils, drawing, and sewing, each monoprint explores themes of reuse, the body, and the natural world, taking cues from the rich artistic legacy of the 20th century. Recently, I have been exploring cyanotypes. Using this alternative photo process I incorporate the sun into my mark-making, building works on paper in rich Prussian blue.

David Gista

Romanesque, 2022

Acrylic on Canvas

Entomology, 2022

Acrylic on Canvas

David Gista was born and raised in Paris, and now divides his time between France and the United States, having established his artistic career on both continents. Gista studied art at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and so combines his classical fine arts training with his keen-eyed examination of modernity, creating a running commentary on contemporary life expressed in a variety of media.

Gail Mancuso

Chicago Synchronicity

Photo Montage

Photography awakens a world of exploration for me. The instantaneous capture within a given moment of time, satisfies a continuous urge to scan my environment to seek out the next shot. I call the city my studio, and with its unlimited possibilities, I am able to gather much of my photographic inventory, as I walk the streets, camera in hand. Additionally, through experimental processes, traditional photography has been a catalyst to express the medium in new and atypical ways.

My process originates in my imagination, where I sit with an idea or concept. Experimenting is key, and I often begin by layering fragments of photographs that I intuitively feel may blend well together. In addition, I utilize a variety of materials, including paint, torn papers, glass and fabric and incorporate digital imaging techniques to further my vision. My mashup of materials is continually evolving and provides an outlet to explore and venture into new territory.

When I’m creating, it's all about the flow, the interplay of color, shadow and light and the emotional response to my emerging composition. Very often, the way a project starts is vastly different from the way it ends. As an artist, it is always my hope that viewers make a personal connection with my work, as I feel that the allure of art is not only visceral but informed through the eyes of spiritual observation.

Dan Zamudio

Assorted Diana photographs

Intimate is one word often used to describe a small black and white photograph. Whether it is a daguerreotype from the 1850s or a snapshot of a great grandparent, the smaller size image gently invites the viewer to “come closer” for a better look.

My photographic work focuses on creating the small, square, slightly faded images that are similar to photographs found inside old photo albums. I seek out a subject matter considered a link to the past and compose the image by excluding anything that would destroy the illusion of a vintage photograph. The majority of the images are printed full frame, without cropping.

I use a toy camera called “Diana” to create my black and white images. The Diana camera is made of plastic, including the lens. The plastic lens produces a slightly blurred focus that adds an aged quality to the photographs. These cameras were discontinued in the late 1960s and early 70s

Ruben Aguirre

Amplifier 1/2/3, 2022

Mixed Media

Aguirre is a painter who is expanding on his roots of style writing with a non narrative approach to mural painting. Visiting and experiencing new spaces continues to provide fresh, exciting environments in which his work is inspired and responds to. His interest lies in drawing attention to underutilized infrastructure as expanded painting. Building on the lineage of "writing", from subway graffiti and its culture as a rebellious rite of passage and search for identity and "getting up", this work is an extended progression of a practice once founded on alphabetic characters as a claiming of public space, to a response that speaks as a contribution to the space which it inhabits. This being a response that is still inspired by the nuance of language and typography, but also informed by architecture and the context of its location. Organic shapes wrap with geometric hard-edge painting, that touches on the power and sensuality of form and color, accentuating its coating of 3 dimensional structures, expanding beyond the common format seen in traditional murals. In turn, this creates a new dialogue between spray paint and the substrate as the work has moved from ephemeral to commissioned. Decoding the personalized format of written graffiti into a process of publicly accessible abstract wall paintings, this current work creates a place where graffiti, formalism, and muralism overlap.