Brian McPartlon Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW (see "When New York Ruled the World," Peter that has its roots in the unconscious and Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, August 5, 2022). comes with years of practice. She taught me that shape and form were the essentials of all composition. Her teaching The works that we have selected for this through the use of live drawing from models special edition of LandEscape — and that our and the strict discipline she associated with readers have already started to get to know the practice of art-making are still carried with in the introductory pages of this article — me today in my studio practice. At the San have at once captured our attention for the Francisco Art Institute, seminal California way they blend reality with imagination. counterculture artist Wally Hedrick taught me Inviting the viewers to explore the that being an artist is a state of mind that can crossroads between reality— whose only be achieved by the practice of the reminders are recurrent in almost all your principles of abstract thought. works —and abstract sensitiveness: how do you considerthe relationship between reality A single painting of yours may take you ten and imaginationplaying within your artistic minutes or over 40 years to complete: when production? More specifically, how walking our readers through the genesis of important isdirect experience for you in your works, would you tell us something order to conceive your artworks? about your usual setup and process? More specifically, do you create your works Brian McPartlon: As an artist, I see things as I intuitively, instinctively? How important are am. In my paintings, the viewer sees things improvisation and spontaneityin your as they are. This is the basic relationship practice, in order to capture the inspiration between reality and imagination - I sense and that arises from the emerging images? comprehend things one way and the viewer another. To me, this is part of what makes Brian McPartlon: The works start on the floor abstract thought the achievement of my as the initial layers are composed using paintings. Getting the viewer to think of their excessive amounts of water and acrylic paint experience, and provoking that mixed with a paint extender called Rhoplex. interpretation, is the success of all art. When the work is dry, it is pinned to the wall. Then my brushwork highlights the colors to How important is the direct experience for form the shapes. me in order to conceive my artwork? Over my lifetime, I have been fortunate to have Regarding the question of intuition vs. acquired knowledge, experience, good instinct, I think that artworks are a judgment and principles that I use in my combination of both, with a mix of magic. work. Magic is what happens when experience [instinct] combines with conscious reasoning I use the word work in the previous sentence in a free format – what I refer to as creation. because it is work. The direct interaction Letting your mind go free of all thoughts between myself and the canvas is the most creates a meditative state where you are important part of being an artist. We can guided by spiritual movements. What I am talk, write and ponder - this is when you trying to say is that I am powered by a force conceive - but in the end, someone has to do