Gary Komarin is a contemporary American artist who was born in 1951 in New York. He is known for his unique and expressive abstract paintings that incorporate a range of techniques and materials and is characterized by a sense of energy, movement, and spontaneity, as well as a bold use of color and shape.
One of the most striking features of Komarin's paintings is his use of a limited color palette. His works often feature just a few dominant colors, which he applies with a loose and gestural brushstroke. This creates a sense of depth and texture, as well as a feeling of dynamism and movement. Komarin's paintings are often quite large, which allows the viewer to fully appreciate the interplay of color and form.
Another hallmark of Komarin's style is his use of various materials and techniques to create texture and depth in his paintings. He often incorporates elements such as sand, plaster, or other materials to create a tactile quality to his work. This creates a sense of physicality and adds an extra dimension to his paintings. Komarin also uses a range of brush techniques, from thick impasto to delicate glazes, to create a variety of textures and effects.
With the intentional underpainting featuring various shades of blue, one can only wonder – with no correct answer – what is up and what is down. But, unlike many of his other large works, this painting seems to only have the drips flowing down the canvas.
Like many of the best artists of his generation he is indebted to the New York School, especially his mentor Philip Guston with whom he studied at Boston University where he was awarded a Graduate Teaching Fellowship. Komarin has been particularly successful at filtering these influences through his own potent iconography. Guston's influence is evident in Komarin's mergence of drawing and painting often breaking the picture plane of his rich color fields with an assortment of vessel-like objects and drawings drifting through the canvas.
“My paintings proceed without preconception. I paint to find out what it is that I am going to paint. I think of myself as a stagehand who sets up the conditions necessary for drama to unfold. The very best paintings are most often those that fail the most. Once a painting has achieved a life of its own, when it speaks back to you as a painter, this is a good place to be. For me, the best paintings are those that paint themselves.” - Gary Komarin