Opening up this Friday, August 7th at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be four solo shows with new works from Jessica Dalva, Scott Holloway, Misato Otake & Jasmine Worth. All four previews are up for viewing right now, but for this preview I wanted to focus on the artwork of Scott Holloway.
Scott’s exhibition is entitled “Memento Mori”, and “centers on the holy relics of Saints and biblical figures as highly detailed anatomical icons.” The drawings and mixed media works look like something right out of the anatomical studies of Da Vinci, but “with passages from the Bible and text from medical treatise, sprinkled with a bit of Surrealism.” in each one. The paintings show a skilled hand with oil paints, and each of the subjects surrounded by a treatment of gold leaf. “Visions of St. Luke” and “St. Luke’s Hand II” both are painted in frames that looked plucked right out of the Renaissance. Each one is aged and shows the effects of time, while the hands are clear and vibrant. St Luke “is the patron saint of Artists, Sculptors, and Physicians. The hand is his symbol.” To me this fusion of old worn in surfaces with the freshly painted icons is like connecting the old with the new, showing that many elements of the past can still be relevant today.
Like many, Scott showed talent and wanted to be an artist from a young age, but he wanted to learn painting in the style of the Northern Renaissance which included such artists as Robert Campin, Jan Van Eyck, Albrecht Durer and Hieronymous Bosch. I wish more were interested in drawing inspiration from the past as Scott has.
The works look amazing, and is definitely worth a look. Scott Holloway @ La Luz de Jesus
