They call it the "Artist's Statement"

Artist’s Statement ~ 6 June 2026

I committed to this show in September 2025. My brushes first put paint to canvas in February 2026. You may ask, why call the show The New Paintings? Well, I could have easily rounded up some older paintings, cobbled together a theme based on the choices and devised branding and promotional material, all with the benefit of hindsight. That would have been a lot less work. And I would have slept more normal hours. But, I really liked this challenge. All! New! What came of it? What paths lead to these paintings? Indeed. Along the southwest coast of England to distribute my mother’s ashes, where I changed my opinion of gnomes; across deserts in Utah, California, and New Mexico, where a cactus got me good; and most of all walking around Royal Lake, in Fairfax, VA, where I find balance. My stations, my meditations, my rituals. Shadows and reflections. Wavelengths. Animals and plants. Sky and rock. Feathers and bone. Time, seasons, and points on the compass. Overtly and subliminally, these all dwell in my work. And a habit I call stochastic space-filling. Allowing chance to intervene in a structure. Bricks and dots and brush strokes and neon tetras go how they go where they go. And palettes. I get to work and mix the colors on a separate canvas. Brushing aside the time it takes to start something else, that becomes a new painting. So, The New Paintings!

John Gratz 6 June 2026 BFA, Communication Arts and Design, VCU, 1982 johngratzstudios@gmail.com