Jonathan Podwil

Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA

Artist statement

ARTIST STATEMENT Almost all of my works originate from the moving image. Some are related to European cinematic classics of the 1960s and 1970s. Others originate from historical footage ranging from the iconic and instantly recognizable to obscure and mundane. In all of my work, I try to convey maximum emotion through expressive brushwork, tonality, and color while keeping my distance from the subject matter, as if it were a fading memory or, as is often the case, a historical event or a classic film which is layered over by newer, equally compelling events. This distance is often achieved only after multiple renditions of the same image, varying in scale, cropping, and the inevitable variations of the hand-reproduced image. In the end, the repetition washes over them just as the events they depict fade in the collective memory of those who witnessed them. Jonathan Podwil Brooklyn NY February 21, 2024

Artwork