Stanford Kay

Stanford Kay uses the book as a source for what are essentially abstract explorations of form and color. But he never strays so far from the representation of the book itself that his subject becomes unrecognizable. Many of the pieces appear to be painted to match the size of actual books evoking a sense of verisimilitude and heightening the tension between abstraction and representation. This play on the edge of abstraction coupled with all the connotations and associations of the book as an object result in some amazingly evocative paintings. He's also able to get an extraordinary amount of mileage out of what is really a very simple and elegant concept.

Making a living off art is never easy and most of even the more successful artists posted on this blog either teach art at a university or work as illustrators and designers to support their amazing habits. Stanford Kay is no different although interestingly, in addition to illustration he also works on "litigation graphics", a field that had never even occurred to me before now. You can see samples of that on his commercial website if you're curious: www.stanfordkaystudio.com

But for our purposes please check out his fine art site: www.stanfordkay.com
and make sure to click on these images to view them larger!

"The Natural World"  2009  Acrylic on canvas  60" x 48"

"Blue True"  2007  Acrylic on canvas  36" x 40"

"Box # 3"  2008  Acrylic on canvas  20" x 16"

"Golden Section"  2008  Acrylic and collage on canvas  12" x 9"

"My Back Pages (Water's Edge)" 2009  Acrylic on canvas  30" x 36"

"Strata"  2008  Acrylic on canvas  24" x 30"

I originally saw his work posted at www.freaksonline.co.uk