FRIEDMANN
j

STATEMENT:
I think I handle solitude well because I am a good listener.
Friedmann, “The computer is a very sophisticated machine but all machines are tools and any tool can be used in a mechanical or in an intuitive way as far as process is concerned”.
We put the world together and we watch it fall apart. My work explores the interplay between chaos and order. Random marks and elements appear to suggest chaos and disarray but the work process is very deliberate. What appears to be random and chaotic has an underlying structure and order. I am interested in finding a balance between these two opposites. To that end, even though I am very aware of composition and color I always push myself towards an undefined end. I start driving but I don’t know where I am going to be sleeping at the end of the day though I hope it’s someplace nice. Hopefully where I rest my head will look appealing to other’s as well.
Much of the inspiration for these works comes from observations of how street signage and graphics deteriorate when left to the elements over months and years of neglect. What was once coherent slowly disintegrates. Order breaks down but in doing so becomes engaging in an entirely different way. The perfection of newness becomes the perfection of entropy, This work mimics that process. Starting with ordered elements I disassembles, dissect and rearrange with the desire to find a hidden balance and harmony while honoring the mystery of a nonlinear process.
Organic Technology:
The computer as a very sophisticated machine but all machines are tools and any tool can be used in a mechanical or in an intuitive way as far as process is concerned. Intuitiveness is an organic non mechanical process. Instead of imposing a solution on a “problem” I try and open myself up for a solution to present itself to me.
On first impression some of these images may appear to be traditional paintings but that is not the case. In the digital realm I don’t attempt to mimic paint but I am instead interested in methods and techniques that flow directly from digital tools and process. When seen at full scale the work reveals detail that could not be replicated using traditional methods.
Some of my current work represents a hybrid process. The first step is a digital collage that incorporates digitally created elements and digitized elements that were created using traditional technics that include brush and paint. After much experimentation and iterations using a pigmented ink process I arrive at a finished full scale print. At that point I may paint directly on the print using a combination of reflective metallic paints and a variety of finishes.
BIOGRAPHY:
I am a long time resident of Los Angeles California. I was born in Brooklyn New York but I have spent the majority of my life California.
I was first inspired by the work of LeRoy Neiman and at the age of 12. I copied one of his paintings. As soon as I saw the work of Pollock, Kandinsky, Mondrian and Stella I realized that I shared a very deep kinship with these artists. I experimented with abstract expressionism and also studied Ceramics with Jim Romberg at The Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities in Sun Valley Idaho and with Sculptor Jan Van Leeuwen in the Netherlands.
In 1976 I entered the Illustration program at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and eventually transferred to The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where I attained a Bachelor's Degree in Illustration in 1980.
EXHIBITIONS:
L.A. Center for Digital Art International Juried Compoetition March 2018
104 East Fourth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Neoteric International Juried Competition May 2015
click here for more
Dab Art
1793 East Main Street Ventura, CA 93001
Art Through The Lens International Juried Compoetition June 2015
click here for more
Yeiser Art Center
200 Broadway Paducah, KY 42001
California Open Exhibition National Juried Competition August 2015
Tag Gallery Bergamot Station Art Center
2525 Michigan Ave., D3 Santa Monica, CA 90404
Online:
emptyeasel.com
http://emptyeasel.com/2018/06/12/jay-allan-friedmann-highly-intricate-digital-abstracts/