Gary Komarin is a contemporary artist who prides himself in his classic painting ideals. His inspirations come from his own sense of time and place and his style is clear and simple. Yet, his work embodies a multi-faceted sense of life, culture and thought.
His current exhibit, "Mexican Thoughts," which runs through April 30 at the Gail Severn Gallery in Ketchum, is a show that not only reveals Komarin's passion for life and living, it is exemplary of his body of work and his abstract expressionist style where less is absolutely more.
"Painting for me, is like breathing," said Komarin, whose almost three decades of work have been recognized by numerous awards, fellowships and grants as well as countless solo and group exhibitions across North America and abroad.
For the art collector, Komarin is compared to the works of Rothko, Guston, Twombly and Motherwell, but to the art appreciator he is hailed for his ability to create personal connections.
"At a show in Zurich, Switzerland, this past December a woman connected to one of my paintings because it reminded her of her life," Komarin said. "She could see all the changes in her life—all sorts of hardships and moving on with her life. It's not literal. It's metaphorical. I think the discerning collectors understand this."
Komarin believes his painting is a door to another dimension and finds that he is painting for himself, which is his calling. "My parents were Holocaust survivors, and as a kid, you don't understand. It is a very dark cloud that hangs over everything," Komarin said. "My brother died at 24 of leukemia and that had a great effect on me."
Having grown up in New York City in the 50s, Komarin's life experiences were beyond the boundaries of his socio-economic surroundings.
"I have always been a big picture thinker, and that is the nature of an artist. It's all been in the mix. I was always looking at so many different things, taking them in and digesting them somehow. You breathe back out in your own form."
Gail Severn walked into Komarin's studio last fall and, within 20 minutes, offered him a show in Ketchum. "Mexican Thoughts" consists of paintings Komarin has completed over the last two years and was inspired by the woman in his life.
"My wife died at 49 of ovarian cancer, leaving behind three kids. It was horrible," Komarin said. "I met Roxy, in New York City at the Gagosian Gallery. She has Mexican ancestry and her grandmother brought her up. I was coming back from the Bahamas and was writing Roxy some poems and one of the poems was called 'Mexican Thoughts.' When it came time, I thought, 'Let's go with that' and on the larger scale of things, it was a life affirming relationship."
The actual painting "Mexican Thoughts" is one of Komarin's darkest works within the show among several other works that feature brilliant colors, such as the blood red of "Matador" or the soothing green of "Roxy," and the playful purple of "A Suite of Blue Sea, Eleuthera." Yet, all of Komarin's work reveal his ability to take one's eye beyond the canvas and lead a viewer through shapes, lines and, at times, the crust of paint to offer a sense of tranquility in thought.
"The titles of the paintings aren't meant to explain, but to resonate with the paintings. People don't look too literally to figure them out. It's meant to open the door for other possibilities," Komarin said. "Some people think they are completely random. Even when I think it's random and often when it happens, I see why the title came to be for the painting."
Komarin's titles come from his collection of names and poetry that he keeps in a hand-painted wooden box in his office. He pulls ideas from everywhere and like his exhibitions, he believes in organic processes.
"I don't make any notes, drawings or make sketches. I don't name colors, and I don't use those words because they close you in and they are too finite. It should look and feel very effortless."
With "Matador," Komarin admits that he had trouble with the painting. "It was hanging around my studio for two years. Sometimes they're are over and done with in two days or two years. I turn them around and place them upside down," Komarin said. "I saw the movie with Pierce Bronsan. I like when movies are casting against type. Two weeks after I saw that, and I will watch the same movie over and over again, the idea of blood being spilled came to me."
Painting on drop cloths or using latex house paint as well as keeping some of his favorite brushes around that may be a bit dry and chalked, Komarin feels, as Picasso, did that you can paint on anything.
"I like to keep it simple in a kinda Zen Buddhist way. When the production materials get cranked up too high, you go beyond the bounds that I can tolerate. You have to be careful about being too big."
Komarin is experiencing a great time for his work. Most recently, he has been courted by a Japanese antiquities dealer who plans to show his work in several places throughout Japan in the coming years. "They never show contemporary art," Komarin said. "I am grateful, but have to remain humble."
?Matador? by Gary Komarin. Mixed media on canvas at the Gail Severn Gallery.
