Dmitri Cavander

2012-10-25 0 notes

Work in progress:
“Looking Up Noe Street”
Oil on canvas
9” x 12”

2012-06-19 0 notes

A redesigned dcavander.com

I just launched the latest version of my painting site. I wanted it to be fluid and responsive, iPhone- and iPad-friendly, but still maximizing image size on desktop screens. Take a look.

2012-06-06 1 note

“100 Boston Painters” available

I’m one of the painters featured in the book “100 Boston Painters”, released on May 28 2012. It’s available on Amazon here.

From Amazon’s book description:

“100 Boston Painters” celebrates the wide-ranging talents, approaches, and personalities of the vibrant world of Boston arts. A labor of love by George Mason University Art Professor Chawky Frenn, this exciting new book features the work of artists selected by an extensive review of Boston arts, both past and present. Including an introductory essay by art critic Charles Giuliano, this volume provides insights into the roots of the arts in Boston, the city’s tradition of painting, and the new directions that painters are pursuing. Brief statements supplement each artist s work with reflections about their inspirations and perspectives on their philosophies, influences, and accomplishments. From realism to expressionism and abstraction, this book covers a remarkable variety of works from well-known as well as upcoming and less recognized artists. This book is a valuable, enriching resource and a must-have for all art enthusiasts.

I’m humbled to have my painting “Balcony” included in a tribute exhibition to George Nick that is taking place at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA. I’m one of 30 former students of his who was asked to participate. It’s an honor to have my work hanging side by side with paintings by George, Eric Aho, Emily Eveleth, Jon Imber, Richard Raiselis, Kimberlee Alemian, and others.

Here are the details:

Galvanized Truth: A Tribute to George Nick
May 20 - September 9, 2012
Reception - Sunday, May 20, 1:30 - 3:30 PM

Art Complex Museum
189 Alden Street
Duxbury, MA 02331
781-934-6634

2012-03-09 0 notes

Work in progress: Meg’s living room.

2012-02-24 7 notes

“Near Hyde, High Shadowed Hill”

Oil on panel

8” x 10”

February, 2012

2012-02-23 12 notes

Recently completed. A painting of the parking lot at work on a weekend morning. Most of the painting is the pavement, which was the last to go in, and was far too dark at first.

2011-09-06 0 notes

Stuart Shils, on “the smearing around of pigment.”

Stuart Shils’ urban landscapes have always impressed me. The complexity of the world is simplified, but the simplification yields complexity on closer observation. And there’s an enviable lightness and quality to the color; it’s right and true, but invented. I also like the way he handles edges — mushyness next to specifics.

In an interview with Larry Groff on his site Painting Perceptions, Shils has the following to say about subject matter:

Subject matter, or the “what is it” part of what an image is, on many levels really doesn’t matter, it’s the excuse for something else, the smearing around of pigment. Or let’s say, it’s not the primary motivation. The basements of Italian museums are filled with Flagellations of Christ but why do we pull our hair out with such pleasure in front of ones by Piero and Fra Angelico? Not because of the story, because all those guys are doing the same story; it is because of how they have told the story, in form…Not what is it, but how is it? Where are the lights and where are the darks, what color are they and what shape are they and, what are the edges like? And of course this implies, how do they all fit together, what is the formal unity in which all the parts contribute to? And from all that, emotion, impact and ultimately meaning, all flow….It is not simply a matter of painting what we see because we indiscriminately see too much and the more we look the more we see and it all gets piled on top of itself as an incoherent disordered collection of observations. This is the fallacy and pitfall of the idea of realism.