Gwenn Seemel | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Known for | Painting, drawing |
Gwenn Seemel (born 1981) is an American painter. She paints contemporary portraits and releases her work under free licenses.
Personal life and education
Seemel lives and works in Long Beach Island, New Jersey in the United States.
Career
Seemel mainly paints portraits. When she paints a portrait, she takes photographs, for an hour, of the sitter before painting them. The sitter is asked to talk about themselves during the photography session. Seemel creates the painting from the photographs. The paintings consist of "geometric patterns and layers of color." Seemel cites printmaking as an inspiration for her painting technique. Seemel painted a portrait of Randy Leonard in 2009, which was displayed in the Portland City Hall. Campaign money was used to buy the painting. Her 2009 exhibition, "Apple Pie," featured portraits of Superman, Susan B. Anthony and Elvis Presley. In 2010, Seemel partnered with artist Becca Bernstein to create their version of portraits of ten subjects. Subjects included family members and the artists themselves. A 2012 exhibition called "Crime Against Nature," includes paintings of animals that don't fit into the gender binary such as dolphins and squirrels.
Seemel releases her work under a free license, and encourages the remixing, use, and sharing of her work.
See also
References
- Kish, Matthew. "Paint by numbers: Slump forces new focus on sales". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Cowan, KC. "Portrait Artist Gwenn Seemel". Art Beat. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Row, DK (5 March 2009). "Art for politics' sake". The Stump. The Oregonian. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Row, D.K. (May 2009). "On view: Gwenn Seemel in Eugene". Portland & Oregon Art. The Oregonian. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Boule, Margie (10 January 2010). "Gwenn Seemel and Becca Bernstein explore the possibilities of portraits". Columns. The Oregonian. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Speer, Richard. "Gwenn Seemel: Crime Against Nature". Visual Arts. Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Maurel, Lionel. "Les Bonnes Recettes du Libre" (in French). OWNI. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- Doctorow, Cory (11 November 2010). "HOWTO make art without getting "ripped off" online". Boing Boing. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
External links
- Gwenn Seemel on Twitter
- Official website
- Interview with Gwenn Seemel Archived 2013-02-01 at the Wayback Machine from CubFluffer
- Video excerpt from Gwenn Seemel's TED Geneva 2014 talk "In defense of imitation"