Evolving Visions: Ben Aronson, Scott Fraser, and Julian Opie

Ben Aronson synthesizes the gestural energy of emotionally charged abstract expressionist brushwork with the observational precision of contemporary realism. Building from studies created en plein air, Aronson’s specificity and attention to light and shadow transport his viewer to a precise location and moment in time. Foundational to Aronson’s work is his innate ability to capture light and the ways in which light varies between and within the cities he visits. As with his influences Richard Diebenkorn and Wayne Thiebaud, Aronson’s painterly texture, lush color palette, and aerial perspectives create a palpable sense of his landscapes without sacrificing their stunning geometric compositions. His work is in the permanent collections of many major institutions and museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan, the National Academy Museum in New York, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Suzhou Museum in Jiansu Province, China. 

Scott Fraser is one of America’s leading realist still life painters. Mixing a classical approach to painting with contemporary objects and innovative compositions, Fraser experiments with cause and effect as well as sleight of hand, putting his own unique stamp on the subject matter. The precision of Fraser’s realism in depicting the often playful and even surreal subjects of his paintings brings humor to the forefront of many of his works, qualified by his labor-intensive technique. In this way, his works take on more depth; each whimsical goldfish or rubber duck is transformed by the viewer’s comprehension of the hours of precise and exhaustive technical execution that brings them to life. The still life tradition invites viewers to see from the painter’s perspective, noting the changes in color and light with the highly specialized eye of the artist. Fraser invites his viewer to both laugh with him and acknowledge the intense labor of his art. Fraser’s work is in major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the De Young Museum in San Francisco; the Denver Art Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa.

Julian Opie has long been examining how we, as viewers, see things. His portraits, sculptures, and reliefs provide a way of depicting the world in which he balances the nuanced styles of Western Art with graphic traditions of caricature, illustration, and even cartoon. His radical approach, which for a period involved offering his works for sale through a catalog, has caused him to perfect the translation of person and object to art: from reality to artifice. Opie's works are brilliantly constructed images, shaped and honed, whether sketched in metal, or crafted through computer software. Opie is one of the UK's best known contemporary artists, exhibiting widely both nationally and internationally. His work can be found in many public collections worldwide, including: The Tate Gallery, London; The Arts Council of Great Britain; The National Museum of Art, Osaka; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.