Jim Gaylord

[...] Gaylord combines scenes from big budget action movies, capturing fleeting shapes and special effects. Through the process of painting, high-speed action sequences are distilled and dramatic conflict is suspended in time. The abstract quality of these moments suggests figures and objects in a state of metamorphosis.

Gaylord collects film stills by freezing individual scenes on the computer screen. He then digitally superimposes several film stills together, creating a composite from multiple images. These become the source material for his oil paintings and gouaches, resulting in something like painted collages. “Artifacts” from fast-moving events onscreen, such as flashes, splatters and blurs, become painterly marks when depicted on canvas or paper.

In Gaylord’s Study series, sheets of acetate are individually painted in gouache, culminating in a single image. The picture is literally built from these layers and assembled on a registration peg bar, drawing similarities to the format of traditional animation cels.

Gaylord mines numerous historical period action movies for source imagery, including The Patriot, Gladiator, The Last Samurai and Pirates of the Caribbean. Suits of armor, military uniforms and period headwear reference the figure without depicting it. Landscape backgrounds with trees and open skies serve as representational foundations for the ultimately mysterious foregrounds.

In Saber Rattle, dappled light falls onto a scene of random violence. Weapons, uniforms and clutching hands jostle for position. The image and the action are in flux, but the painting gives the direction.[...]

Extrait du Communiqué de Presse "Based on True Events" (14/10/2009 - 14/11/2009) - Jeff Bailey Gallery (New York, USA)