November 14 - December 5, 2020 OPENING: Saturday, November 14, 2020, 1:00-6:00pm
AIR Gallery is pleased to announce our new show featuring painted works by Ezra Siegel, a contemporary abstract artist in Chicago, whose award-winning paintings have been shown throughout the US and internationally. Ezra regularly participated in North Shore summer art festivals in the last few years, and quickly became a local favorite.
Biography
Chicago-born artist, Ezra Siegel, comes from an artistic family. His father, Arthur Siegel, a world-renowned photographer and his mother, Irene Siegel, is a multi-media artist. At an early age, Ezra took an interest in architecture. He attended Francis Parker High School in Chicago, and graduated from Vassar College, majoring in Art History and Architecture. To copy the great master drawings in the Uffizi, he moved to Italy. He then lived in Portugal and Canada before returning to the Chicago area. As a self-trained artist, Ezra has spent many hours visiting museums and perusing art books. These various influences have informed Ezra's art.
He has shown in New York, in one-man and in group exhibitions. He has also shown Internationally, both in group shows, such as Mae D'Agua, and in gallery representation. Ezra has won Best of show: Bayou City Art Festival Downtown 2016, Art and Big Fork 2014, Lubeznik 2013/2019, Northbrook 2013, and has received recognition from numerous juries such as Illinois Arts Council and Art Loop Open. Ezra currently has Gallery representation in Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, Minnesota, and Illinois. He had a one-man show at the Lubeznik Center of the Arts, Michigan City, in 2016. He showed in SOFA Chicago 2019. He is notably in the collection of Roger and Pam Weston, Rod Lubeznik, and J. Scarpa, among others.
Artist Statement
I begin the canvas by preparing the surface with a homemade gesso (a mixture of paint and plaster). This mixture allows me to control the degree of smoothness and absorbancy of the paint surface. This is key to my technique which follows up with multiple layers of washes and thin paint (sometimes up to 30 layers). This allows me to create subtle and nuanced color and tone.
It's not until the final stages of the painting when things begin to fall into balance, that the painting takes on form and expression. At first my art suggests "minimal painting," but with time and close inspection, they exhibit complexity with fluctuations and imperfections within the background, outlines and interior shapes.
I've spent 30 years of exploring forms, shapes and paint surfaces to create something that is both simple and complex. The more time spent with my paintings, the more potential they have to stimulate the emotions and intellect of the viewer.
