ART021｜南柯展位 W01 亮点作品｜霍尔登·威勒 Holden Willard

霍尔登·威勒 Holdon Willard

送给奎恩的鲜花 Flowers for Quinn，2024

布面油画  Oil on canvas 

117h x 97w cm 

© Courtesy of the artist and EDJI Gallery

Nanke Gallery is pleased to announce the presentation of five highlighted paintings by young American artist Holden Willard at booth W01 of the ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair. This marks the debut of Holden's work in the Chinese art market, with his vibrant use of colour and precise capture of expressions leaving a memorable impression.

Holden Willard at his studio © Courtesy of the artist and EDJI Gallery

霍尔登重视每一种媒介在创作过程中的变化流动，力图找到最适合推动他理解媒介的方式。当他开始创作一件作品时，他主要在探索理解和重新评估艺术选择。作品始终处于流动状态，不特别强调某一部分，而是将注意力放在整体画面上。最终，他的目标是对自己正在回应的事物做出真诚的表达。

在作画前，霍尔登总是怀有对图像的初步规划，但这并不意味着他对作品的每一方面都进行限制；他常常会在画中添加或擦去一些符号或隐喻，不断地评估它们，以寻找适合的元素。最终的结果更加和谐与情感化，让观众能看到艺术家创作时的思维过程。

Holden considers the ebb and flow that comes with every medium’s process, determining the best way to push his understanding of it. When he approaches a piece, he is mainly looking to understand and re-evaluate choices. The work is always in flux with no particular attention to certain parts, rather – an awareness placed upon the whole picture. Ultimately, the goal is to create an honest response to whatever he is reacting to.

Holden always sits down to paint with an intention for the image he’s going to create. That doesn’t mean that he’s planned out every aspect of a painting; he’ll often play around with symbols or implements that he adds and erases with a rag, evaluating them in an effort to see what sticks. The result is much more harmonious and felt, where the viewer is able to see the artist's mind at work.

霍尔登的作品并非单纯的肖像绘画，画面中的在色彩和绘画中被扭曲变形，进而转化成其他的形态。在他的创作中，霍尔登试图捕捉我们在梦中解读记忆的感觉，他的绘画表达了诸如成长、渴望和失落等体验。

霍尔登通过色彩来讲述这些故事。他明白在肖像画中对人物的聚焦是不可避免的，因此他通过在画布上铺设色彩并在其上绘制人物来实现平面化，使得色彩不再被形体束缚。例如作品《送给奎恩的鲜花》 (Flowers for Quinn)，将人物形象的气质与周围的形体融为一体。在这幅画面中，一位男性化的角色靠在沙发上严肃地凝视着观看者，人物和沙发都以紫色和亮红色描绘，并与青色、钴蓝和黄色形成鲜明的对比。 “我的许多作品都是关于让人物融入环境，而不是成为独立的部分。” 对他来说，绘画是关于观看色彩相互作用后所产生的情感体验。他带着直觉进入艺术学校学习绘画，而现在他已经理解了色彩在他追求的结构中的作用。

None of Holden’s paintings are direct portraits because none are actual representations of the subject; they are bent and twisted through colour and Holden’s drawing so that they transform into something else. In his work, Holden is looking to capture a feeling of how we interpret memory in our dreams and his paintings are narratives about experiences like coming of age or longing and loss.

He tells these stories through colour. He understands that in portraiture focus on the figure is inescapable, so he achieves a level picture plane by putting colour down and then drawing figure(s) over it so that colour is not restricted by form. The painting "Flowers for Quinn" is an example of this, blending the human figure with the forms around them. In the painting, A masculine character leans on the sofa, gazing seriously at the viewer, lays across a couch. Both objects are painted in purple and bright red and contrasted with aqua and cobalt and yellows. “A lot of my work is about placing the figures and making them a part of their environments instead of them being a separate part. For him, painting is about the emotions you feel as a result of seeing the colours interact with each other. He went to art school painting intuitively and now that he’s studied painting he has the understanding of how color fits into that structure he sought.

在他处理人物、物体或它们所处空间时，霍尔登给予每一个元素同样的尊重和关注。他考虑光线如何转化为色彩，尝试解释身体散发的热量，尤其是这种色彩如何融入周围空间并表达人物的某种特质。这种表达方式直接与他在画布上呈现梦境的兴趣相关。色彩通过线条被分隔，因为绘画的本质就是绘图——这也带来了大量的绘制和擦除。最终，他的目标是对所回应的事物做出真诚的表达。

霍尔登主要致力于在过去、现在和未来之间创造一种对话，无论是通过家人、朋友还是环境的视角。在他看来，这些都是他在缅因州创作成长叙事的基本工具。家中的图像、青年时代的冒险、通过视线和姿势表达的恐惧与焦虑，所有这一切都是为了表达那些未曾言明的东西。

In his approach to figures, objects, or the spaces they inhabit, Holden gives each the same respect and attention. He considers how light translates into colour, attempting to convey the warmth a body emits, particularly how this colour blends into the surrounding space and expresses certain qualities of the subject. This form of expression is directly related to his interest in portraying dreamlike scenes on canvas. Colour is separated by line, as drawing is intrinsic to painting—a process that involves a lot of sketching and erasing. Ultimately, his goal is to create an honest response to the subject he is reacting to.

Holden is primarily focused on creating a dialogue between the past, present, and future, whether through the lens of family, friends, or the environment. In his view, these are essential elements he uses to construct a coming-of-age narrative in Maine. Images from home, adventures of youth, fears, and anxieties expressed through gaze and posture—all of these contribute to expressing what is left unsaid.

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南柯画廊 Nan Ke Gallery