Jeremy Price
Each day, our lives require us to move from one place to another, instead of dreading it, Jeremy Price enjoys capturing it. The whirlwind of cars, bikes and pedestrians become the focus of his exceptional oil paintings. Born and raised in London, Ontario, Canada, Jeremy currently lives in Montreal. With a degree from the Vancouver Film School’s 3D animation program, he works as a 3D artist in the videogame industry. Interestingly, his ability to create movement through animation displays itself in his talent as a painter.
For the most part, Price chooses subjects that define his own, personal view of the city - often a mix of childhood memories and new experiences. His images are straightforward, however, depicting what he describes as “the stagings of the day, of commuting, of living." In addition, all of his paintings have one thing in common. . . they are all fleeting moments and remind us of how life moves by so quickly. Price’s paintings feel like a snapshot in time. He evokes this feeling through his ability to “focus” certain subjects in his paintings while allowing the rest of the scene to blur out. The central object is often crisp and clear in the foreground, while the background is still moving and a little blurred. His colour choices also enhance this effect, with brighter colours up close and duller ones in the distance. His brushstrokes become a soft, yet very visible texture throughout all his work. Most of his city views are powerfully graphic representations of busy street scenes.
The Overlook Hotel
This series of paintings is a collection of scenes from the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining. Each painting is based on an actual shot from the movie although a few edits have been made to each. The first edit is that any actors that were in the scene have been removed. This is in keeping with the theme of the exhibition. I wanted the focus of the painting to be purely on the set, which ironically may be the most important 'actor' in the story.
The second is that the aspect ratios have been changed from the original format. The film was shot on 35mm film with a 1.85 to 1 ratio. None of the panels i used have this exact aspect ratio so there was a bit of cropping in some, and 'invention' of the negative space in others. My apologies to your compositions, Mr. Kubrick.
I have watched The Shining altogether too many times. Over 50 is not an unreasonable guess. Yet while recently researching the different possible locations for this painting series I noticed something i had previously 'overlooked'. (get it:)
First, there are at least four different Alex Colville paintings in the film. How Kubrick came across this legend, and probably my all time favourite Canadian artist) I have no idea.
More pertinent to the filming of the movie though was that I realized that during the opening sequence in which the manager walks Jack through the hotel, Kubrick foreshadows each of the specific places that will become key locations in the film.
The long static shots are emblematic of the permanence of the structure of the hotel. The building remains the constant, whereas the horrors that have occurred and will occur within its halls are just passing moments, just ghosts.
My painting process on these panels is a lengthy one. They all start with structure, and arranging the vanishing points and compositions, but the focus soon shifts to accurately portraying how the space is lit. Most important is getting the values correct, the lights and darks. Once the values are good the hues don't really matter because the illusion of light will hold up.
For me this takes a lot of iteration, a lot of exploration, and a lot of time.
Sometimes I watch the process videos of other artists. The confidence and methodical and deliberate approach looks absolutely nothing like the chaos these wood boards must endure.
Upon completion, each of these 6 paintings, like all my work, have their own unique successes and failures, their individual strengths and weaknesses.
'Done' never means 'perfect'. I believe this ultimately gives paintings character, and makes them unique in their own right. Just like people. - Jeremy Price

Available Artwork by Jeremy Price
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