A Studio Visit with Cara Ober
We all have our art crushes. When Baltimore Style Magazine asked me to write about any artist I wanted for their monthly Portfolio column, I picked a painter I had never met but had admired for years. The result: a breathless and enthusiastic attempt to explain what it is about Dan Dudrow‘s oil paintings that makes me feel weak in the knees. It’s in the brand new March, 2014 Issue, just out on news stands, so I hope you will check it out.
One of the best things about being an artist who writes about other artists is the great joy that comes from studio visits and the opportunity to have brief but intense conversations about their work. From there on out, it’s pretty much agony, attempting to put the visual into words, but I enjoy this part of the learning experience too. Here’s part of the essay as a sample:
Like the most alluring individuals, compelling works of art attract from a distance and deliver a jolt of surprise when you zoom in close. The abstract oil paintings of Dan Dudrow, a MICA painting instructor for 40-plus years, are easy to appreciate for a number of reasons: candy-bright hues, a wide variety of unpredictable marks and a strong central composition. However, it is only when your nose is practically touching the buttery, cake-icing surface of a Dudrow painting that the experience is fulfilled.
From there I discuss Dudrow’s abstract ‘Ercolano’ Series and attempt to get at the heart of what these process laden works do and mean. It’s not an easy job, but I love it. Here are a few photos from my initial studio visit with Dudrow, who works out of the Parkdale Studios in Woodberry.
To read the whole article, find it on local news stands or head to Style Magazine’s website.
A painter’s palette does not get any more legit than this!
Older Works below and Works in Process on the Wall
Dudrow in his studio
