Journeys: Paintings by Thaddeus Radell

Thaddeus Radell

Journeys

8 FEBRUARY - 11 MARCH, 2019

690 Miami Circle NE #905, Atlanta, GA 30324 · www.thomasdeansfineart.com

This catalog was produced in conjunction with:

Thaddeus Radell: Journeys 8 Februrary -11 March, 2019 Thomas Deans Fine Art 690 Miami Circle NE #905 Atlanta, GA 30324 tel. (404) 814-1811 www.thomasdeansfineart.com Images Š Thaddeus Radell Compilation Š2019 Thomas Deans Fine Art Catalog design: John Goodrich

This page:

The Offering (detail) oil pastel, graphite and wax crayon on paper, 19 x 24 in.

Front cover:

Oedipus (Exiled King) (detail) oil and cold wax on panel, 48 x 36 in.

Thaddeus Radell

Journeys

8 FEBRUARY - 11 MARCH, 2019

Hailing Charon oil and cold wax on panel, 48 x 34 in.

Thaddeus Radell Essays in the Epic Time was, painters were drawn to notions of the epic. All manner of artists—from Titian to Goya to Picasso—tried their hand at grand mythological or historical themes. Even when the Abstract Expressionists largely abandoned figuration, they still pursued the transcendent effect; for them, the epic was part and parcel of painting.

In our post-modernist era, however, tastes seem to run more towards the ironic and the quirky. These days we turn to paintings for intimations of the political and the social, not the heroic or the legendary.

But Thaddeus Radell is one painter who still unabashedly attempts the epic, and on multiple levels. In his exhibition “Journeys” at Thomas Deans Fine Art, his predilection for the legendary is evident in even his paintings’ titles: “The Crossing of the Acheron,” “Oedpius,” “The Judgement of Paris.” A first glance at Radell’s work, which ranges from small depictions of heads to large multi-figure compositions, shows an AbstractExpressionist’s faith in the power of gesture; in fact, Radell’s paintings are gestures, built-up of repeated layerings of rapid, black outlines and ragged, humming planes of color. These impart a richly atmospheric impression of pulsing depths and thick space.

Adding to this rather otherworldly aura are the raw surfaces, sometimes embedded with fragments of burlap: visceral evocations of the ravages of time.

Of course, every painting lives or dies according to its own particular internal dynamics, and in this respect the show encompasses a variety of expressions. In the painting “Lear and the Fool,” the vertical presence of figures emerge slowly and evenly from depths of ochre and green-blue—perhaps the closest of any works here to the all-over, enveloping

On the Banks of the Acheron oil and cold wax on panel, 86 x 144 in.

energy of seminal Abstract-Expressionist pieces like Pollock’s “Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)” (1950), in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

More climactic in its rhythms is “On the Banks of the Acheron” (2015), which locates a half­dozen figures—broad, ragged swathes of yellow, red, and greenish-blue—against a background of muted green- and blue-grays. As is Radell’s habit, facial features are minimalized, conveying little more than a head’s general volumes, and individual gestures are suggestive rather than explicit: a central group of figures could be dancers, while a figure at far right might be aiming a hand gun. And yet the sense of a conversation among them comes through, not so much narratively as pictorially, with discrete shifts of color—the darkening of a limb or garment in shadow—evoking specific movements of masses.

Perhaps most impressive of all is the 9-foot wide “Vaucluse,” with its panorama of mysterious, marching verticals. A few take on human form, condensing as ghostly masses against the background of throbbing greens, blue-grays and ochres. Other verticals elude instant identification; they could be additional figures, spindly towers or burnt trees. Each, however, holds its place, gravely and tangibly, within the ranging depths. Is the painting an homage to the French Resistance, which was active in the town of Vaucluse during the Second World War? We needn’t know; its colors and rhythms speak for themselves, in momentous fashion.

Portrait of E.C. oil and cold wax on panel, 24 x 20 in.

Throughout these paintings, the candid attempts and re-attempts to define each subject become, in effect, stories of their own: encapsulated histories of a transcendental quest.

Radell’s work, in short, revels in the epic in all senses: assuming it as a core value of painting, applying it as narrative, and ingraining it as a pictorial force. Absorbing his paintings, we sense that the epic is alive and well, and will remain so just as long as there are painters like Radell to pursue it.

—John Goodrich An earlier version of this essay appeared on paintingperceptions.com on June 10, 2017

Judgment of Paris oil and cold wax on panel, 48 x 60 in.

Agitation on the Acheron oil pastel, graphite and wax crayon on paper, 17 x 27 in.

Vaucluse oil and cold wax on panel, 48 x 110 in.

Above:

As I Walked Out One Evening oil pastel, graphite and wax crayon on paper, 15 x 20 in.

Right:

Oedipus (Exiled King) oil and cold wax on panel, 48 x 36 in.

Above:

The Wall oil and cold wax on panel, 16 x 20 in.

Left:

Red Ochre Crossing oil and cold wax on panel, 32 x 24 in.

Above:

A God Sighs oil and cold wax on panel, 36 x 48 in.

Right:

Interior oil and cold wax on panel, 30 x 24 in.

Born and raised in Michigan, the son of two artists, Thaddeus Radell completed his B.F.A. at the University of Detroit/Mercy before moving to New York City to study at Parsons School of Design with Paul Resika, Leland Bell and Jack Heliker. After receiving his M.F.A. in 1982, he spent the next several years painting in the city and working as the studio assistant to Resika, Robert DeNiro, Sr., and the sculptor Sydney Simon. In 1984 he moved to France, where he spent the next 14 years, dividing his time between studios in Paris and Provence.

The artist returned in 2000 to New York City, where he has since lived and worked. He presently maintains a studio in Long Island City and is an Associate Professor of Painting and Director of Studio Art at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He regularly exhibits in New York City and around the country, and frequently organizes shows as an independent curator. He also writes art reviews for such online publications as Artcritical.com and Paintingperceptions.com.

Opposite:

As I Walked Out One Evening (detail) oil pastel, graphite and wax crayon on paper, 15 x 20 in.

Back cover:

Purgatorio (detail) oil and cold wax on panel, 58 x 96 in.

A corner of the artist’s Long Island City studio

690 Miami Circle NE #905 Atlanta, GA 30324 tel. (404) 814-1811

www.thomasdeansfineart.com