JOHN SLABY
  • Home
  • EXHIBITIONS
    • ADAM and EVE and the iPHONE
    • Solipsism, 2021
    • The Male Gaze, 2018
    • Death and Desire, 2015
    • Inappropriate, 2012
    • Stimulus, 2009
    • Somethings to Think About, 2008
    • Paintings You Won't Buy, 2007
    • Crimes Against Art, 2005
    • Not About Nothing, 2003
    • Figure Show, 2001
    • Landscape Show, 1999
    • Dark Corners, 1998
    • Genesis, 1996
  • OTHER WORK
    • KOOL AID
    • Still Lifes
    • Landscapes
    • Montage Landscapes
    • Palette Paintings
  • About
  • Contact

FIGURE SHOW

This series of figure paintings for a show at Archway Gallery in 2001.

Picture
Push, Oil on Linen, 48x60, 2001
Push was the signature piece for the show and contrasts with my female nudes of the past. For in this work, the figure possesses power and energy, pushing against the bounds that hold him, in this case, the very boundary of the painting. Unlike the passive figure in Glimmer of Light, the signature piece from Dark Corners, this figure uses his power to push into the light...and freedom.
Picture
Nihilism, Oil on Linen, 28x48, 2001
Nihilism is in direct contrast to Push. In this work, a strong male figure lies prone, a stone on his chest. The stone is small, and can be removed to grant the man his freedom. But the nihilist accepts fate without protest and thus remains.
Picture
The Decision, Oil on Linen, 20x24, 2000
The Decision is inspired by Camus famous quote: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy." Here is a man taking Camus at his word.
Picture
Climber, Oil on Paper with Dollar Bills, 21x27, 2001
Climber shows a figure climbing an endless wall of money. The background consists of thirty one-dollar bills. This work was an attempt to exorcise my money fears (it didn't work).
Picture
Shadow Heart, Oil on Linen, 36x24, 2000
Shadow Heart and The Visitor recalls many of the works from Dark Corners, with more sophisticated shadow work. They elicit feelings of alienation, vulnerability and fear.
Picture
The Visitor, Oil on Linen, 36x48, 2001
Picture
Joan of Arc, Oil on Linen, 36x24, 2001
Joan of Arc is a portrait of the very mysterious historical figure. Here is a woman who heard voices of angels at the age of thirteen, telling her that she would be the one to liberate France. She was to eventually lead an army, relieve the siege of Orleans and ultimately be burned at the stake for heresy. In this work, the Gothic arch (echoed in her hairline) indicates her historical period, her position of prayer that she is a religious figure, and the dagger that she is a warrior.
Picture
Here. Now., Oil on Masonite, 18x48, 2001
Here. Now. is influenced by this quote from Pascal: "When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of space of which I am ignorant, and which knows me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there, why now rather than then." The figure sits in contemplation of the generations before him and the space that he will occupy in the vast timeline of history, here symbolized by the tree rings.
Picture
Figure Study I, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Figure Study IV, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Figure Study III, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Figure Study II, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Palette Painting I, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Palette Painting III, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Palette Painting II, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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Palette Painting IV, Oil on Paper, 16x18, 2001
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  • Home
  • EXHIBITIONS
    • ADAM and EVE and the iPHONE
    • Solipsism, 2021
    • The Male Gaze, 2018
    • Death and Desire, 2015
    • Inappropriate, 2012
    • Stimulus, 2009
    • Somethings to Think About, 2008
    • Paintings You Won't Buy, 2007
    • Crimes Against Art, 2005
    • Not About Nothing, 2003
    • Figure Show, 2001
    • Landscape Show, 1999
    • Dark Corners, 1998
    • Genesis, 1996
  • OTHER WORK
    • KOOL AID
    • Still Lifes
    • Landscapes
    • Montage Landscapes
    • Palette Paintings
  • About
  • Contact