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Jeremy Lipkin$ has quickly caught the art world's attention

with his Iandscape, poilrait, and still-life paintings I By Dottie tndyke

T WAS WHILL, HE wAS A STUDENT AT THE CRTITOINIA AnrInstitute that leremy Lipking learned how to see. In his younger

days, he'd size up the human figure as the sum of its parts,

picking out the eyes, the nose, the mouth, and the hands. But his

teachers at the institute taught him to detect the shapes created by

lights and darks and the subtleties of color. Although he'd always

drawn and painted, Lipking says, at the end of his year in art school it

was obvious that he'd made a tremendous artistic leap.

Since then, the Californiaartist has confidentlY andtenaciously chased the dreams he

set out for himself while he was a

student. He strives to master the

fundamentals of painting and re-

create the inspiration thatgenerated each piece in the first

place. From the looks of his

career trajectory-he is only 26

years old and already exhibits at

four galleries (including one inNew York City), where his workregularly sells out-it's fhir to say

he's well on the way to achieving

his goals.

-r- iokinp. was born in Santa

I M";a and has livcd inI 'southern Califbrnia most

of his life. His lather is an

advertising designer, children's

book illustrator, and landscaPe

painter, so Lipking's childhoodwas immersed in art. Under his

fhther's tutelage, he learned some

of the basics of design, drawing,

and color. He might rather have

been home watching cartoons,

he says ruefully, but his fhther

insisted they spend tirne at local

museums and galleries.Rusu Cnrar, otI-, 14 x 20.

86 Souruwasr ARr . I4-{Y 2002

Despite the fact that he

demonstrated early talent in art,

it was music that drew himstrongly. Throughout his teens,

Lipking played guitar andperformed in a punk and reggae

band. He appreciated andplayed all types of music andconsidered the possibility thatmusic might be his calling.

For a semester after highschool, he took art classes at alocal community college. Then,at his father's suggestion, he

looked into the California ArtInstitute, an intimate academy inWestlal<e Vi11age. Once his classes

started, he became impassioned

b), the traditional approach thatthe school fbstered. "trVhen I

started studying, I painted stilllifes, dre figure, and landscapes,"

Lipking says. "Painting theIandscape was a litde easier thanhiring a model or finding a place

to paint the model or the stilllife. You could just go out andset up your easel."

Lipking was attracted to a

tradirionel style of' paintingbecause "it has so much

to do with what's hap-

pening right here and

right nou-you'rc cap

turing the moment," he

says. "For example, ifyou're out painting at

the end of the day and

the iight's coming downand hitting the side of a

hiliside or a mountain,that's it. That's whatyou need ro paint.That's the here andnou,. Of course. that'snot the whole state-ment. It has more to dorvith capturing thingsthe rvay you see them."

After a year ofstudy x1d armed withthe basics, Lipking set

off determined to gror,v

tlre way he likes best-on his own. Indeed, he

acl<nowledges in retro-spect. the most impor-tant thing he learnedin art school washow to teach himself."I was never taught one

particular styls ofpair-rting. It changedeach time dependingon the subject or hbwmuch time I had. I'velearned many fllffsr.r1ways of starting a

painting from RichardSclrmid's book AllaPrima."A"uouc rHr-r Asli:r.-s, ofi.,36 x 24

88 Souu:wr*r Anr . trtrw 2002

Ocrorm SuxsF. r', orl, 30 x 20

trtrq.v 2002 . SoLrrmqsr Am 87

Lrpraxc(coNrrlur rnou lecr 89)

Hollywood. Impressed with hiswork, owner Jeff Morseburg invitedthe then 24-year-old to join hisstable. In lanuary 2001, the gallerysponsored a solo show for the youngartist, and nearly all the paintingssold. Later in the year, Lipking tookthe top honor at the California ArtClub's Gold Medal Exhibit for an

evocative, classically inspired nudepainting. This fune, Lipking willteach a figure painting class at theFechin Institute in Taos, and atyear's end, Arcadia Gallery in NewYork City plans a one-man show ofhis work.

This startling turn of events is a

little overwhelming for Lipking, whoa few short months ago had no idea

what to expect of his career. He is

working as hard as he can, he admits,and still he worries about spreading

himself too thin. He is young andthe future is an amorphous concept,.so Lipking contents himself with his

art, his new marriage to a formerstudent at the California ArtInstitute, his music, and the general

here-and-now.Asked to imagine what might

be the pinnacle of his promisingfuture, the artist demurs. "I feelreally fortunate that I've had theopportunity to study art in the firstplace. That's a complete luxury.Everything has happened so quickly,"he allows. "Ask me in a couple ofyears and maybe I'11 be able to tellVOU-,, U

Dottie Indyke writes the monthly NativeArts column.

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M,xy 2002 . SoLrE{wEsr ART 153

The result of hisself-improvement efforts is an artist who is

rigorously disciplined,rarely leaves his studio,and remains focused onimproving with eachsucceeding painting.He studies the works offohn Singer Sargent,Nicolai Fechin, andSpanish plein-air mas-

ter ]oaquin Sorolla yBastida. He is especially

inspired by artists such

as Swedish painterAnders Zorn, who isknown for his depic-tions of nudes in land-

scape settings. "I can'treally paint the figureand ignore what's be-

hind it," Lipking says

of his recent imagesthat combine the human figureand the landscape. "The figurelooks the way it does because ofthe landscape behind it, and the

landscape looks the way it does

because ofthe figure."In places close to home,

such as the Pacific Coast,Malibu Canyon, and the Santa

Monica Mountains, Lipkingwill paint with a live model or,if conditions are prohibitive,take photographs as reference.

He prefers to work outdoorsand tries to do as many pieces

as possible in one sitting. Theideal method, he savs, is tomake a quick painting from life,photograph his model, andthen take the material back tohis studio for completion. Buthe follows no set rules, optinginstead for whatever processseems to best suit the painting.

Lipking's style is classicand romantic, akin to 19th-century portrait and naturalisticlandscape paintings. Dressed inlong skirts, short jackets, shawls,

and closely fitted hats, hisfemale subjects seem to be ofanother era. In a single canvas,

he will realistically render some

sections-for example, a lonefigure and nearby trees-whileleaving the rest a soft field ofcolor. "I paint that way because

it's how I see," he explains."You can't see everything infocus at once."

Though his paintings offigures-some nude, some

clothed, some in nature)some shown full-bodyand others cropped at

the neck-are perhaps

his most intriguing,Lipking's still-lifes and

landscapes are equallyethereal. The light inhis paintings is enig-matic, cast with dramaand subdety.

"I'm attracted tothe figure and thelandscape because ofhow challenging theyare. There's somethingI need to learn aboutthoser" he says. "Andjust painting outdoors-there are so many dif-ferent ways you canapproach that."

There is no doubtthat Lipking's work is

steeped in art history, confidentdraftsmanship, a love of thehuman figure, and a penchantfor romantic poses andlocations. But that is not tosay that the whole world of artdoesn't hold appeal. "I knowsome people who are militanttraditionalists or extreme mod-ern artists," he says. "But I have

an appreciation for all rypes ofexpression. Part of it comesfrom music. I don't want tolimit myself to one typeof music or one type of art. Iknow the way I want mypaintings to look. But ap-preciating art is a differentthing."

A little over a vear ago,A liot ir,, entered a few of

-l- I.t.lir paintings in theCalifornia Art Club's springsalon, hopeful they would be

exhibited at Morseburg Galleries

in West (coNrrNuro oN PAGE rs3)

Fn.q.tlrnn Her, orr, 24 x 18.

Jr,rslrv LrprrNc,

Mtv 2002 . Sormrurysr Arr 89