October 15 – November 13, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, October 15, 6 – 8pm
Flashpoint Gallery presents 13 new works by Washington, DC-based painter Adam de Boer. In December 2009, de Boer visited a friend’s finca – or farm – in Villeta, Colombia, 40 miles northwest of the capital city, Bogotá. Upon his return, de Boer began a series of paintings that comprise the exhibition Finca. The intensely colored, narrative works are informed by de Boer’s visit to Villeta as well as by the religion, music and diversions that define finca culture.
De Boer used Colombian Vallenato music, a form with ties to minstrel traditions of Colombian farmers, to inform the palette for the exhibition. The palettes are derived from Hardesty Maratta’s early 20th century theory on “chords of color,” where notes on the musical scale relate to a particular hue. The artist employed Maratta’s theory to construct three distinct color compositions based on the chord progression of his favorite Vallenato song. De Boer explains, “At the end of 2008, I had become dissatisfied with the color in my paintings, so when I came across the Maratta system and its promise of beauty through color harmony – by way of musical harmony – I decided to experiment.”
Each painting depicts a vignette of life on the Villeta finca. The works serve as a visual journal, creating a narrative in the gallery space. Themes and imagery vary considerably—from those that highlight the landscape, to images of family members at play in a swimming pool, to more intimate depictions of young women in bunk beds before falling asleep. The works reflect the simple, distinctive stories of a large, extended family in Colombia, and through their specificity comment on universal themes of religion, class and culture.
Flashpoint Gallery
916 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
202.315.1305
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