1994, Landscape, oil on gessoed paper, by Kenney Mencher
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This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
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This landscape was painted while I was in graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. That time in my life was all about experimenting—I was trying every kind of subject matter and style I could. I’d shift from photorealistic still life and figure studies to abstract, textural things like this. I remember one gallery owner I worked with while I was getting my MA in Art History at UC Davis—John Natsoulas—once told me I “drew too well to work in the Bay Area Figurative style.” So I made it a personal challenge to learn how to draw badly—which, as weird as that sounds, was one of the most useful things anyone ever said to me.
This landscape is part imagination and part based on a photo from a landscape photography book. At the time, I was also painting plein air around Davis. I used to load up a French easel on the back of my mountain bike and head out into the fields. Those Davis landscapes all sold, and the still life work from that period sold too—but I held onto a few experimental pieces like this one, from Cincinnati.
I was painting so fast I was burning through materials, so to save money, I taped down a bunch of super textured, heavy watercolor paper to masonite boards. I gessoed the whole batch and worked on them for a couple of weeks. I liked dragging a razor blade or plastering knife across the surface to enhance the gesture and texture. When the paint dried and I peeled the tape off, the image would have this great holding line around it—clean, crisp edges that made the whole thing feel finished and contained.
This painting is part of my Fresh Finds project, where I’m digging through my archive and releasing early works that collectors haven’t seen before. These are original, one-of-a-kind pieces from the beginning of my career. I thought it might be nice to let my collectors in on this phase of my journey—these pieces are part of my legacy, and they’re finally ready to leave the flat files.
Details:
Title: Untitled Landscape
Year: Early 1990s
Medium: Oil on gessoed watercolor paper
Dimensions: approx. 9 x 12 inches
Unframed
Signed on the front
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
Painted while earning my MFA at the University of Cincinnati
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This landscape was painted while I was in graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. That time in my life was all about experimenting—I was trying every kind of subject matter and style I could. I’d shift from photorealistic still life and figure studies to abstract, textural things like this. I remember one gallery owner I worked with while I was getting my MA in Art History at UC Davis—John Natsoulas—once told me I “drew too well to work in the Bay Area Figurative style.” So I made it a personal challenge to learn how to draw badly—which, as weird as that sounds, was one of the most useful things anyone ever said to me.
This landscape is part imagination and part based on a photo from a landscape photography book. At the time, I was also painting plein air around Davis. I used to load up a French easel on the back of my mountain bike and head out into the fields. Those Davis landscapes all sold, and the still life work from that period sold too—but I held onto a few experimental pieces like this one, from Cincinnati.
I was painting so fast I was burning through materials, so to save money, I taped down a bunch of super textured, heavy watercolor paper to masonite boards. I gessoed the whole batch and worked on them for a couple of weeks. I liked dragging a razor blade or plastering knife across the surface to enhance the gesture and texture. When the paint dried and I peeled the tape off, the image would have this great holding line around it—clean, crisp edges that made the whole thing feel finished and contained.
This painting is part of my Fresh Finds project, where I’m digging through my archive and releasing early works that collectors haven’t seen before. These are original, one-of-a-kind pieces from the beginning of my career. I thought it might be nice to let my collectors in on this phase of my journey—these pieces are part of my legacy, and they’re finally ready to leave the flat files.
Details:
Title: Untitled Landscape
Year: Early 1990s
Medium: Oil on gessoed watercolor paper
Dimensions: approx. 9 x 12 inches
Unframed
Signed on the front
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
Painted while earning my MFA at the University of Cincinnati
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This landscape was painted while I was in graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. That time in my life was all about experimenting—I was trying every kind of subject matter and style I could. I’d shift from photorealistic still life and figure studies to abstract, textural things like this. I remember one gallery owner I worked with while I was getting my MA in Art History at UC Davis—John Natsoulas—once told me I “drew too well to work in the Bay Area Figurative style.” So I made it a personal challenge to learn how to draw badly—which, as weird as that sounds, was one of the most useful things anyone ever said to me.
This landscape is part imagination and part based on a photo from a landscape photography book. At the time, I was also painting plein air around Davis. I used to load up a French easel on the back of my mountain bike and head out into the fields. Those Davis landscapes all sold, and the still life work from that period sold too—but I held onto a few experimental pieces like this one, from Cincinnati.
I was painting so fast I was burning through materials, so to save money, I taped down a bunch of super textured, heavy watercolor paper to masonite boards. I gessoed the whole batch and worked on them for a couple of weeks. I liked dragging a razor blade or plastering knife across the surface to enhance the gesture and texture. When the paint dried and I peeled the tape off, the image would have this great holding line around it—clean, crisp edges that made the whole thing feel finished and contained.
This painting is part of my Fresh Finds project, where I’m digging through my archive and releasing early works that collectors haven’t seen before. These are original, one-of-a-kind pieces from the beginning of my career. I thought it might be nice to let my collectors in on this phase of my journey—these pieces are part of my legacy, and they’re finally ready to leave the flat files.
Details:
Title: Untitled Landscape
Year: Early 1990s
Medium: Oil on gessoed watercolor paper
Dimensions: approx. 9 x 12 inches
Unframed
Signed on the front
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
Painted while earning my MFA at the University of Cincinnati
