UPCOMING SHOWUp to 30 warks on sltow
July 23-August 6, 2009Arcadia Gallery51 Greene StreetNewYorh NY 10013
{2r2) 965-t387
About face
MalcoLM LIrpru
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what needed to go."I r.vanted to do it for a long time," says Liepke.
"I felt kind ofbound by the narrative tradition and had
explored everything eIse. I didn't really have anythingelse to say and wanted to simpli$, and rvinnow down mystatement to what was mv strongest strit anyr,val'."
So, after thinking about rvhat attracted so manycollectors to his work thror,rghout his long career, Liepke
made a decision."It was the emotionaliry of the rvork, the connection
to the people who rvere painted and the faces," says
Liepke. "So, I decided to simpli$'the background and
just get rid of all that other stuff behind it. My work is
about the connection rvith the people I paint."Along with the background details, Liepke also
wanted to lose the narrative context of the u'ork."I wanted to go with something I felt u'irs the essence
of my work anl'way,!' says Liepke. "I rvanted to abandon
the narlative statement and look just at the 6gures. '
Liepke's nerv exhibition is groundbreaking for the
artist. He has completed over 30 paintings-ranging insize from 4-by-4 feet to 10-by-12 inches-all of rvhich
are highly cropped images of heads and faces.
"I've never done strictly a head kind of show," says
Liepke. "I thought that itrvould be a novel idea to explore.
I started to do the large canvases and that allowed me to
get into a statement that rvas a lot more por,verful. Before,
I was doing mainly' 8-bv-1O-inch paintings. But the big
ones combine a lot of blorving up and cropping withextreme close-ups. I'm enjoying it and further honing inon things thtrt are fun to play with-different formats
with heads and frames and that sort of thing."Liepke is also finding that a rvhole universe is available
once you get dori'n to tl.re finer elements of a painting.'As the microscope focuses ar-rd gets in cioser and
closer, you hnd a u4-role u,ork in there," says Liepke."Further exploratior.r of this subiect matter rvill includemen, worrren, kids, old \\,omen, and multiple heads on
one canvas. It's faces and l-reads, but rvithin that frarner'vork
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Rronreo Becx Dn-uss, orL oN c\NV\s. I4 x I2 LooxrNc AT you, oIL oN cANVAs, I.+ x 12
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there is a rvide virrietl, of thir.rgs I)r-r exploring."For Liepke, though, it all cornes dorvn to beins able
to edit all unnecessary material out of the paintings."Just right dorvn to tl.re bare essentials," says Liepke.
"I just rvant to get the look, the gesture, the eye contact
that rvill glab you. \When you zoor.n in like I'm doing,
it has to be sornething that garners one's attention, like
the faces, the look, head gestures. In the past, I rvas able
to say things with body gestures tl.rat were porverful or
interactions with a couple of figures that rvas telling."Liepke titled this neu, exhibition Abont Face
because, for him, that is rvhere these nerv paintinqs
begin and end."You can realll, s2y a lot about someone by tl-reir
attitude, their look," says Liepke. "I think rn hat is it about
this persor.r that is grabbing n.re? Is it their gaze? The shape
of their hair? They,wa).their head is tilted? So, I sharpen
my observation because when you are doing a (4-by-4-
foot) head, tl.rere realll. has to be something in tliere that
is pretry intense and ri.ill grab peoplet interest." e
For a lirett lirk to tbeexhibiting gallerl go to
9$
Price Range IndicatorOur at-*glance Price Range Indicator sltous what you
cl1il ex?ect t0 plry for this artist\ worh.
Small Medrum large
2009 $6,000-510,000 $20,000 $40,000
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