Preview, New Works by Richard Chandler Hoff, July 8 - August 11, 2011

New Works by Richard Chandler Hoff
Exhibition Preview
July 8 - August 11, 2011
Opening Reception Saturday July 9
6:00 - 9:00pm

My drawings provide a pictorial narrative of life in America during the 1940's and 1950's.
In capturing the essence of life on the 'home front', I depict popular architectural and social icons of that era to create scenes of places where Americans gathered to pursue the fine art of having fun.
Architecture and light play key roles in my work and two major influences have had a most profound effect on the use of these elements in my drawings. The first was Edward Hopper, an artist in whose work architecture played a prominent role. Hopper used buildings as well as light to distill the essence of what is American and the success of his
work showed me the legitimacy of depicting the urban landscape.
The second influence arouse when I became familiar with Life magazine from the forties. The light in their photos seems ethereal and yet ready to burst off the page with great warmth and an intensity which I have come to associate with that time even though I know it was probably due to more primitive photo materials.
Born too late to have truly experienced the 1940's, I instead rely on written and verbal stories and imagery gathered from extensive photo files. I then create visual folktales to illustrate the style and romance which withstood the brutality of a world war to influence us even today in music, literature, fashion and the theatre.


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