Bernarducci Meisel Gallery is pleased to present Adam Normandin’s solo exhibition of recent paintings entitled Yard. Each of the nearly dozen new paintings features freight trains covered with graffiti, some in motion. When the trains are depicted in motion, the precision of Normandin’s technique is contrasted with the blur of the speeding trains. In paintings of still trains the exploratory curves of the graffiti are contrasted by artist’s linear composition. The artist becomes familiar with the trains as he trespasses onto dangerous tracks in train yards during the early morning hours. This abrasive light quality that is unique to Los Angeles because of its geographic location is present in many of his paintings.
Normandin’s “Change of Plan” (2014) depicts a freight train speeding by, adjacent to an intersection in a barren yet industrial area. Although there are no factories electrical towers hover in the background over what may be an empty field against a clear azure sky. In this expansive, horizontal composition, speed at which the freight train passes by is shown with the blur of motion. Although the train is speeding and blurred it is extremely detailed. The train’s container cars, that are yellow, red, blue, green, and orange, are vibrant in comparison to their surroundings. A solitary silver four door sedan speeds along with the train. In the sea of asphalt that makes this industrial intersection, there is a red stop sign that is the center of this composition. These juxtapositions of color and motion are extraordinary examples of Normandin’s ability.
“The Labyrinth” (2014) is a painting of a still freight train car, in what appears to be rural America, decorated with graffiti. A door is slid open in the center of the car, centralizing the composition, and adding mystery as the viewer is drawn into the seemingly empty train car. The composition, stretching to 8 feet wide, shows every detail of the scene; from the gravel to the grain. The precision with which this scene is painted is unsurpassed. Continuing to contrast the gray of the gravel, Normandin juxtaposes it with the bright orange of the car and the blue of the sky. This makes for a harmonious effect in the rather ominous scene.
Normandin’s work continues the dialogue of the blur paintings of Gerhard Richter. Richter would paint his subjects precisely and then smudge the drying paint to create a blur. In contrast, Normandin paints the blur precisely using a mixture of acrylic and oil paint to create a subtle variation in texture and vibrance that is so pivotal to the realism of his compositions.
Normandin lives and works in Los Angeles. After earning BFA from Hofstra University, Normandin continued to exhibit his paintings in the United States in notable group exhibitions such as Beyond Realism at Galerie de Bellefeuille in Montreal, Canada. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with Bernarducci Meisel Gallery.
