Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Caravan: Melissa Kuntz

In Caravan, artist Melissa Kuntz presents a series of vacation motor homes, masterfully painted in oil. Since 2004, Kuntz has been painting and exhibiting representational works based on photographs she has taken of locations of leisure and artifice, including South Beach, Las Vegas, Coney Island, Cozumel, the New Jersey shore, Conneaut Lake, and Niagara Falls, to name a few. Her images have captured a particular aesthetic in the signage and architecture of these well-known vacation spots. Drawn to the tawdry, gaudy, cheapness associated with the decadent lifestyles that allow for vacation time, Kuntz’s new paintings presented in Caravan are an extension of this aesthetic.

Caravan is on now through April 15 at 709 Penn Gallery, presented by the Education Department of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

No comments: