Artist Focus: J Louis

American Art Collector

March 2022

American artist J Louis lives and works in New York City. In his early 20s, the artist was recognized for his vision and has garnered exposure rapidly, exhibiting with many of the finest representational galleries worldwide. His work is currently collected and found in numerous prestigious collections.

His oil paintings are painted on linen panels where he expresses model-like figures as the center of attention. Although evocative and graceful, these individuals are poised and occupy the painted space with mysterious confidence. Louis paints with lively, inventive handling of this medium. However, he uses more than a brush. He masterfully manipulates the surface of the painting and the paint itself, thus constructing fascinating textures and surface qualities. Viewers of his work will notice velvety thin glazes of paint move over the textured panel and mingle with thicker masses of dense pigment, making dramatic contrast in color and texture. His play of material and textural blemishes breathes life into the otherwise still figures. 

He says, “The beauty of the paint, reflected in human figures, is compounded in the imperfections of the surface. This collaboration is hidden and exquisitely revealed within the composition connecting line, color and texture into a magnificent study of human form and beauty.”

His artwork primarily features women in intimate poses, and it feels as if the viewer is witnessing a moment of recognition beyond their understanding as these meaningful glances rest in an unexpectedly ambiguous space. Louis’ compositions  profoundly break down the setting and apply focus on the figure by manipulating their vivid color landscape. The contradiction of virtuosic draftsmanship and a discerning taste for appropriate abstraction form the unique emotional and artistic quality of his art. —

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