Real in Itself: Aaron Holz

“I would like to make something that is real in itself, that does not remind anyone of any other things, and that does not have to be explained like the letter A, for instance.”  Arthur Dove

I am constructing paintings that allow me to play with pattern, atmosphere, and illusion without being bound by the tenants of representation.  I want to let shape and color play off one another, giving the materiality of paint a distinct presence in the work. These paintings embrace the experimental character and complexity of early American modernists like Charles Scheeler and Ralf Blakelock while providing a sensory experience of landscape from a contemporary viewpoint. The theme of this work is less specifically tied to a particular place even though Cannonball, North Dakota and Turtle Island are still present in my mind for certain works. Over the past year in the studio I have been thinking of nations, flags, Walt Whitman, the central great plains, the high plains of the west, the Missouri river, Wounded Knee, Bob Dylan, Jasper Johns, limits, failure, anxiety, hope, pleasure and geometry.