On a warm summer day, PR skated through Bushwick, Brooklyn to spend some time with artist Chuck Webster. In a discrete, red brick building on the second floor, Webster splits a large apartment into a live/work space. Webster's personality is open and infectious. He is never at a loss for words. In one conversation the topics can range from painting, cooking, The Wire, Point Break and back to painting. His paintings on the otherhand reveal the quiet and contemplative side of the artist.



Bad Habit, 2011,
oil on panel, 36 x 30 inches
courtesy of ZieherSmith, New York



Panopticon, 2011,
oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches
courtesy of ZieherSmith, New York



work table


It's hard to describe Webster's process because each painting is slightly different. After hanging around the studio one gets the feeling that the paintings are slow in the making as each layer develops. Most paintings are treated with many layers of thin paint to build up the surface and color relationships. Sometimes the paintings are sanded then repainted. The paintings lay about and get knocked around as they are made. This allows for ideas and decisions to slowly work their way in. There is a loose, succumbing quality to the work that is seemingly haphazard. This could not be further from the truth. Webster scrutinizes over the surface, constantly adding a thin layer here and taking away paint there, checking the overall surface and color relationships.



Recognize Your Saints, 2011,
oil on panel, 14 3/4 x 13 3/8 inches
courtesy of ZieherSmith, New York



Old Stone, New Building, 2011,
oil on panel, 22 x 18 1/2 inches
courtesy of ZieherSmith, New York



Throw Back the Little Ones, 2011,
oil on panel, 52 x 36 inches
courtesy of ZieherSmith, New York




The graphic quality of Webster's work can often call for a quick read. One would do well to hang around for a while because over time the paintings start to reveal themselves. These are not simply exercises in formalism or abstraction as a filter to the world, but works that have the visual and spiritual charge of Byzantine icons. There is a deep poetic soulfulness in his best work that is hard to pull off these days, giving the viewer a rare, introspective take on contemporary painting. While graphically striking, they are not hip nor cool. They are not paintings trying to distill a contemporary existence, but work instead on the internal human experience.



a working drawing



painting in progress



Satellite of Love, 2011,
oil on panel, 15 x 12 inches
courtesy of ZieherSmith, New York



a working drawing



the artist in front of a work in progress

Past exhibitions include: Draw the Line, Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York, NY and bodybraingame, curated by Hudson, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, IL. Recent solo show My Small Adventures, ZieherSmith, New York, NY. Will be included in Forrest Bess: 100 years including Forest Bess, Chris Martin, Andrew Masullo and Chuck Webster, Kirk Hopper Fine Arts, Dallas TX. Webster is represented by ZieherSmith in New York and Steven Zevitas Gallery in Boston.

-Kris Chatterson 09.23.11