Kari Tirrell: Toying with Paint

Kari Tirrell T oy i n g w i th P a i nt

Meyer Gallery

Kari Tirrell T o y i n g w i t h Pa i n t

No vember 17 - 3 0, 202 3

Meyer Gallery

225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.1434 800.779.7387 www.meyergalleries.com

Meyer Gallery presents its first ever exhibition for contemporary realist painter Kari Tirrell, whose work offers a humorous and whimsical take on the traditional genre of still life painting. Tirrell’s preferred subjects are antique tin toys, which she arranges in amusing situations or playful jumbles and paints with painstaking detail. Her solo exhibition is a continuation of this style with fresh, fun narratives and complex compositional arrangements.

Tirrell considers her style to be a mix of portraiture and still life, as she brings out the personality of her objects and presents them with human-like conduct. This show will feature approximately 16 pieces including a series of what she calls her “line-up paintings,” in which the toys are being identified for their crimes and titled with cheeky sentiments. Illegal Alien features a Martian toy standing at attention, while Petty Theft refers to a prancing bulldog gripping a shoe in his snarl.

Tirrell’s subjects are actual toys from her constantly growing collection, which she paints with meticulous accuracy in her studio. She first photographs the toys in a variety of arrangements before landing on a composition, studying the images for the desired interplay of light, shadow and color. She paints from these photos while also keeping the object in hand for close reference. The same goes for her “jumble paintings,” in which a pile of toys fills the painting surface in a seemly haphazard way. These compositions, however, are also intentionally arranged for a balanced image while presenting a playful theme. Birds of a Feather is a 24” x 30” painting that reflects this style as the centerpiece for the show, featuring a cluster of bird toys whose expressions and interactions are as captivating as the detail in which they were rendered.

Tirrell is a Washington-based painter whose childhood passion and natural talent for drawing evolved into a full-time painting career as an adult. Beginning with abstraction, Tirrell eventually found a home with pastels as the perfect marriage between painting and drawing. However the archival nature of her current medium – acrylic on aluminum surfaces – has held her attention for the majority of her career, while her subject matter has found a fond collector base who appreciates her modern, light-hearted take on an age-old genre. Tirrell has received awards in regional, national and international exhibitions and competitions, and has also earned features in a variety of art publications. Southwest Art Magazine has aptly described her style as “not your grandmother’s still life,” as the artist also enjoys incorporating playful innuendos into her work, which for this show includes pieces like Makin’ Bacon. “I decided I would do still life if I could make it fun,” says Tirrell of the origin of her current style. “Amusing myself in the process is an added bonus.”

Birds of a Feather

acrylic

24 x 30

Disorderly Conduct

acrylic

24 x 18

Disturbing the Peace

acrylic

18 x 15

Fraud

acrylic

12 x 12

Illegal Alien

acrylic

20 x 16

Jailbird

acrylic

12 x 9

Makin’ Bacon

a crylic

14 x 11

Modern Family

acrylic

24 x 20

Petty Theft

ac rylic

12 x 9

Retirement Plan

acrylic

14 x 11

Snitch

acrylic

14 x 18

There Goes the Neighborhood

acrylic

12 x 24

Tin Minagerie

acrylic

24 x 36

Traffic Jam

acrylic

24 x 30

Wiener Tug

acrylic

12 x 24

Kari Tirrell T o y i n g w i t h Pa i n t Price li s t

Birds of a Feather

acrylic

24 x 30

$18,000

Disorderly Conduct

acrylic

24 x 18

$5,200

Disturbing the Peace

acrylic

18 x 15

$3,600

Fraud

acrylic

12 x 12

$2,800

Illegal Alien

acrylic

20 x 16

$4,600

Jailbird

acrylic

12 x 9

$2,600

Makin’ Bacon

acrylic

14 x 11

$2,800

Modern Family

acrylic

24 x 20

$6,900

Kari Tirrell T o y i n g w i t h Pa i n t Price li s t

Petty Theft

acrylic

12 x 9

$2,600

Retirement Plan

acrylic

14 x 11

$2,800

Snitch

acrylic

14 x 18

$4,500

There Goes the Neighborhood

acrylic

12 x 24

$4,500

Tin Menagerie

acrylic

24 x 36

$15,000

Traffic Jam

acrylic

24 x 30

$15,000

Wiener Tug

acrylic

12 x 24

$4,500

Meyer Gallery

225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.1434 800.779.7387 www.meyergalleries.com