Conor Dowdle
Region: Northeast
My subject matter is institutional icons and monuments observed in major American cities. I see these paintings as investigations of the heroic, the anointed, and their inverse. I choose to cast a second look at these charged objects, omnipresent in the background of my life, as they speak to values held in the past and present, for better or worse.
My paintings begin as observational sketches made outside of the studio. I then translate, refine, exaggerate, or distill these drawings into oil paintings. I employ a variety of color palettes, gestures, and rendering techniques in my work. I am interested in the way this variety of approaches and techniques encourages multiple interpretations of artworks with similar subject matter.