Whitehot Recommends: Painters Guild - a group exhibition curated by Brandon Elijah-Johnson and Jesse Morsberger at 11 Newel Gallery

Exhibition posters, Painters Guild at 11 Newel Gallery. Courtesy of 11 Newel Gallery.

Painters Guild

11 Newel Gallery 

On view through May 1, 2022

Closing event Friday, April 29, 6-9 pm 

By WM, April 2022 

From the press release: 

Painters Guild is a group exhibition featuring paintings by Clark Filio, Dan Schien, Jesse Morsberger, Kyle Staver, Lauren Whearty, Lauryn Welch, Brandon Johnson, Lucia Love, Carlo D'Anselmi, Kesha Prioleau-Martin, Ray Hwang, Riley Bingham, Todd Bienvenu, Tsai-Ling Tseng, Paige Turner-Uribe, Noelle Velez, Matt Blackwell, Nick Benfey, and Elmi Mata. 

Noelle Velez, Untitled, Temptation Garden. Courtesy of 11 Newel Gallery.

The exhibition celebrates the joys of painting and pays homage to archetypes of adventure that have occurred throughout history. Painters Guild spans a broad range of talent, from established artists to emerging painters at approachable price points for new collectors. Chosen for their shared enthusiasm and dedication to painting as much as a reverence for adventure and mythology, this cohort of artists each reimagines what subject matter can be used in painting. By incorporating references from folklore, video games, and tabletop roleplaying experiences into direct painting using traditional techniques, these artists trace a parallel 2D lineage that has grown up alongside contemporary painting. 

Tsai-Ling Tseng, Untitled. Courtesy of 11 Newel Gallery.

Early modern painters and other artisans joined guilds that not only trained them in the techniques and conventions of their respective mediums but also gave them reliable work within the hierarchy of a studio. Today, where guilds are no longer a dominant economic model for the arts, people who grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons or World of Warcraft have a different understanding of what a guild is: an anachronism that signifies any type of imaginary collective of characters, within a world of limitless possibilities. An interesting challenge arises when one considers what it might look like to conflate the historical painters guild with the imaginary guild of fantasy role-playing games. 

Each painting in this show functions as a portal into distinct worlds full of life and intrigue. Through these colorful works, each member of the Painters Guild invites you to experience a palpable sense of discovery and adventure. WM