Darrell George >> Bio
Darrell George Darrell George is a native to Long Branch, NJ and was living in and out of New Jersey since 1998 when he graduated from the University of Delaware. As an art student and a football player on an athletic scholarship, Darrell was hardly stereotypical; he would eventually change his major to keep his scholarship, but was confident that he would continue to paint on his own. As Darrell’s athletic career ended he was anxious to continue his life as a painter. He immediately found satisfaction being surrounded by art while working as an assistant to James Yarosh of James Yarosh associates Fine Art Gallery in New Jersey. Attracted to the Russian style of non conformist artwork in the gallery Darrell enrolled at the Bridgeview School of Fine arts in New York. Darrell credits his growth as a painter to his academic study with Russian artist Anna Rochegova. From Anna, Darrell learned many of the techniques, philosophies, and rigorous training habits of the Surikov Institute in Moscow, but credits his travels and time in athletics as the inspiration to his subject matter and palette. “Using oil paints gives me better control of the medium. By choice, I am able to manipulate what happens on canvas, making conscious decisions about the evolution and finality of the painting. I always try to use a palette that best communicates depth in a painting, never using the same color in both the background and foreground. Combined with the importance I find in facial reaction or the gesture of the body I hope to create a final picture of stopped motion that I can see in rewind and fast forward through my minds eye. This is achieved through a 3 stage process. Within the past year I have taken to including a finished abstract under painting or (landscape). The second stage consists of an intentional rough overcoat of human form and gesture while continually deciding which forms and colors will show through. The third stage begins the process of what the painting will be; gaining clarity to the figure in the painting, while deliberating over details. A visual editor if you will. The last stage will take weeks if not months of deliberation as I work on at least 2-3 pieces at a time. A painting should express and communicate emotion through the action of a figure. Expressed with subtlety through layers of paint and color, a sort of shyness helps us to see the main character revealed in the painting as a hero. Discernible to the viewer, the figure becomes the most complicated machine on the planet. From the reaction, expressions, and movements of the body it is possible to understand their physical and emotional destination. The viewer is tempted to look more than once, recognizing something new with each glimpse. A story for their creative fantasy is conceived.” Recently Darrell had the honor of adding to the collections of Mr. Bill Levine, former United States art representative to Salvador Dali’, and actress Juliette Lewis and her family. Darrell’s paintings “pointing at” and “Where have all the flowers gone” now hang among Mr. Levine’s collection of works by Dali’. Vachegan Narazyan and Edward Yashin, both from the sect of Russian non-conformist art, the abstract work of Richard Diebenkorn, paint application of Wayne Thiebaud, and the allegorical scenes of Francis Bacon come together to place influence on Darrell’s artwork. Darrell currently paints and lives in the Lehigh Valley. . |