{"id":14732,"date":"2023-04-20T07:47:35","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T14:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paintingperceptions.com\/?p=14732"},"modified":"2023-05-05T07:40:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T14:40:58","slug":"interview-with-adrianne-lobel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paintingperceptions.com\/interview-with-adrianne-lobel\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Adrianne Lobel"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently received a postcard from Adrianne Lobel<\/a> about her upcoming Reflections on a Pond<\/i> exhibition, this will be her fourth show at the Bowery Gallery Bowery Gallery<\/a> April 25 \u2013 May 20. I was intrigued by her unique approach to geometric abstraction and color arrangements and decided to find out more. I then recalled that I’d seen her 2018 Bowery Gallery show online of plein air-based mobile home series; looking closer, I guessed that these new abstractions also had their genesis from observation on some level. I decided to ask if she’d consider an interview and was very pleased that she accepted my invitation to talk about her process and background in this email-based interview.<\/p>\n

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Autumn Pond<\/i>, 36×36 inches, oil<\/p><\/div>\n

Her press release for this show states:
\nAdrianne Lobel presents a new series of graphic and geometric paintings inspired by the landscape and its reflection on her pond in upstate New York. Over the years, her work has become more and more abstract. She tries to compose the chaos of nature into something almost architectural.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Adrianne Lobel takes on the classic challenge of abstraction as she distills her experience of nature with carefully honed shapes. Varying color harmonies, lushly painted, signal the change of seasons and the time of day. Powerfully composed arrangements bring a tautness of design and a sense of resolution in their clarity. The artist uses great invention to achieve endless and subtle variation using only rectangles along with a few semi-circles and half-circles. Elements overlap, interlock, find themselves sliced by dark lines. The edges are painted freehand, endowing the work with a warmth and accessibility that a more mechanical approach would lack. The resulting paintings are immensely satisfying. The rich density of deciduous forest, sharp blue skies, reflective ponds, the resplendent color of nature are all packed into these simple squares of painted canvas.\u201d – John A. Parks, painter, teacher, and art writer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Moon Reflected<\/i>, 48×48 inches, oil<\/p><\/div>\n

Larry Groff: <\/strong>In your upcoming exhibition of new work titled Reflections on a Pond <\/em>at the Bowery Gallery are a series of abstract paintings and tapestries. Is this work based on studies done on-site as you made in previous work, such as your previous series of Mobile Homes? <\/p>\n

Adrianne Lobel: <\/strong>Absolutely, The show is called Reflections on a Pond <\/em>because I spent last summer and fall painting exactly that. I have an old stone house on a hill in Rhinebeck, New York. At the base of the hill is a rather large pond full of frogs and koi. I had a number of areas cleared of cattails and shrubbery so that I could drive my paint-mobile down there with all of my equipment and paint.  From the first day, I knew it was going to be exciting. The shapes and colors of the \u201creal” foliage were reflected and distorted in the brown water giving an almost mirror effect and allowing for very interesting compositions.  But also\u2013the title has a double meaning as in \u201cThoughts” of a Pond.<\/p>\n

LG: <\/strong>Your father was a well-known successful illustrator and writer of the acclaimed children’s books\u2013the Frog and Toad<\/em> series. Your mother attended Pratt and was also involved in the Arts and the Theatre. What were some ways your experience as a child led you on your creative path?<\/p>\n

Adrianne Lobel: <\/strong>I have been an artist since I was two. My parents both worked at home and often didn’t have time for little me\u2013so they threw me in a corner with crayons, markers, and paper to keep me occupied.  Then everybody worked. It was fine with me. Since I can remember, my parents have been freelance artists, so that was normal for me. My work ethic, which is ironclad, comes from watching them get up every day and go to their drawing tables.<\/p>\n

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Pond Reflection #1<\/i>, 48×48 inches, oil<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

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Black and White and Beige<\/i>, 36×36 inches, oil<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

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Pond Reflection #3<\/i>, 36×36 inches, oil<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
LG: <\/strong>From what I’ve read, you grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Museum, where you took a number of courses as a young person and considered yourself a fairly serious painter. You later found work as a draftsperson at film studios and got your MFA at the Yale Drama School. What led you to the theatre arts instead of painting?<\/p>\n

Adrianne Lobel: <\/strong>I did study painting at the Brooklyn Museum School  (sadly gone), but I also worked in summer theaters as a teen. I was much more interested in what went on backstage. I was 15 when I designed and painted my first drop, and I was thrilled with the scale and importance of that. I also loved the social aspect of the theater. At that age, the thought of being a lonely easel painter was less appealing than the party that was going on in the theater. I also thought that working in the theater would lead to actually making a living. (Ha!). <\/p>\n

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Fall Reflections<\/i>, 36×36 inches, oil<\/p><\/div>\n

 LG: <\/strong> For over 30 years, you had a successful career in scenic design, starting from working closely with such acclaimed artists as the choreographer Mark Morris and the theatre and opera director Peter Sellars. In 1986 you worked on the opera Nixon in China<\/em> and then went on to design many of the sets for Mark Morris, such as L\u2019Allegro<\/em>, The Hard Nut<\/em>, and Acis and Galatea<\/em>. You’ve also won the Obie, the Lucille Lortel, The Jefferson, and the Long Wharf\u2019s prestigious Murphy Award. I’m curious to hear whatever you might have to say about why and how you decided to segue from this incredible career to being a full-time painter.<\/p>\n

 Adrianne Lobel: <\/strong>A lot of things happened.  First off, My now ex-husband and I bought the upstate house around 22 years ago. I had been hankering to paint again, and the landscape inspired me\u2013so in the first summers up there, I started to paint en plein air, as I had done as a kid.  Then I had a baby, and the travel involved with my brilliant career started to be irksome to me. There was one time when I was working for The Bolshoi Ballet (which was a surreal experience) when my daughter was four. The piece was a ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. It was 29 minutes long, and it ran in repertory with many other shows\u2013so\u2013it was only onstage for lighting and tech for about half an hour a week\u2013which meant that I had to commute to Moscow three times in three weeks!  Every time I said goodbye to my child and got on the 11-hour Aeroflot flight, I thought I would never see her again. It really was too much for me!<\/p>\n