Chris Lundy opening at James Gray Gallery...

Hawaii-based artist Chris Lundy presented a new series of paintings in his highly-anticipated solo exhibition Notes From the Field, which opened this past Saturday, March 14th in Santa Monica at the Bergamot Station...

For the exhibition, Lundy parlays his talent for blending formal academic painting with visual narratives of a world in flux into dynamic large-scale works. Immortalizing his surfing roots, Lundy captures the kinetic energy, graceful motion and luminous archways of his aqueous subjects. He states, “These paintings are not meant to serve as portraits of situations. They are meditations in and of themselves and hopefully serve as a glimpse into the rhythmic, radiant sanctuary that is the true home of many.”

Each painting is a snapshot of a place and time, inspired by nature’s sublime details – the spray of raindrops exploding on the ocean’s surface, or a zoomed in perspective on the lyrical movement of the crests of backlit mini waves ripping along a tide pool. For Lundy, the ocean is a place of reflection and discovery, in which he creates eternal snapshots of its magic moments and omnipotent forces - flawlessly exploring its rhythm, architecture and stillness.

Lundy’s process is improvisational and fluid. Taking notes from his daily aquatic discoveries, the radiance of a single water droplet can serve as the catalyst for a six-foot painting. The months long process encompasses a sequence of steps from building large canvasses and producing rough sketches to selecting his signature spectrum of vibrant colors. Lundy skillfully contrasts complementary hues such as golds with lavenders to create luminous, glowing works of wonder.

We popped through during the afternoon on our gallery tour, prior to the reception in the evening, and took in the scope of the works (MacDowell and Svenman above). Just look at how large his works are... they really have to be seen in person.

Numerous publications have done profiles on Lundy including Sole Collector, The Surfer’s Journal and a cover story in Juxtapoz magazine. His work has been featured on the Real World: Hawaii, and Nike commissioned him to create visuals for numerous products, including the limited-edition Lundy Dunk Low, one of the six sneakers featured in their original global launch of the Nike Laser project.

James Gray Gallery

2525 Michigan Avenue, Building D4 in Santa Monica / 310.315.9502

'Notes From The Field' - new works from Chris Lundy

(On view through April 12th)

http://www.jamesgraygallery.com/