Painter Bradford J. Salamon Exhibition 'Visages' Opening at Brett Rubbico Gallery, Newport Beach, CA

Llyn Foulkes, 45" x 30"
oil on synthetic canvas

When we think of a ‘portrait’, we expect to see a realistic rendition of a person’s face, head and shoulders, often the result of that individual commissioning the artist to paint it.  Portraits are usually about the person being painted but for Bradford J. Salamon’s ‘Visages’, most are expressionistic interpretations of some of Southern California’s familiar curators, artists, art writers and friends.  The exhibition includes 22 portrait paintings and 6 small paintings of singular nostalgic vintage objects – mostly all oils on synthetic canvases. Surprisingly, this group of works were all painted within the last year as about a third of the paintings have a more traditional portrait representation while the majority are a major shift away from that approach. We are being let in on Salamon’s creative process as he explores unusual territory.  Vigorous brushwork, manipulation of surface textures together with a color palette of a range of ochres, umbers and siennas place the artist’s personal stamp on these portraits. Many of these paintings have disappearing figure/ground connections as parts of a head may bleed into a background, and drips and dribbles of thin layers of paint are scratched into the canvas and  move in and out of view. It is unclear whether Salamon is putting forth his interpretation of the subject’s persona or his own personal one. In either case, these portraits exude energy, vitality and a directness that viewers can feel and appreciate. The exhibition opens October 5^th with a reception from 7-10 pm and runs through November 30^th.

Peter Frank, 45" x 30"
oil on synthetic canvas, 2013

Eric Minh Swenson, 18" x 14",
oil on synthetic canvas, 2013