Artist Stanley Whitney shared his thoughts and answered questions on his abstract paintings yesterday at the Civic Square Building in downtown New Brunswick.
Whitney described the thought process behind his artwork, and the progression of his career over the years to an audience of more than 35 students with the help of a PowerPoint presentation to portray his work.
"When I paint my paintings, I like to think my color is the universe," Whitney said.
The artist, who's studio is right next to his wife's in New York, said he grunts and curses as part of his painting process and often times it creates tension between him and his wife, since it makes her unable to focus on her work on the other side of the wall.
"His intuitive grasp of color is impressive," said Jessica Bottalico, a Mason Gross School of the Arts graduate student.
Whitney said he puts hints and clues as to what he was trying to say in his paintings, with titles ranging from "Bootylicious" and "James Brown Sacrifice to the Apollo."
"I don't know very much about these paintings at all," Whitney said. "It's like life."
In a given year, Whitney said he tends to spend about three to four months in Italy painting, and the rest of his time in the United States.
He said the more relaxed atmosphere of Italy, compared to the United States, influenced a growth in his composition and his use of colors in his paintings.
"You want color to be intellectual, not decorative," Whitney said. "That was my biggest challenge."
He said sound has a great deal of influence on his use of colors. Music serves as a big influence, especially the work of Miles Davis and Bob Dylan, he said.
"There's not much thinking going on here," Whitney said. "You are really feeling."
Whitney said he remembers beginning to take an interest in art at a young age. Whitney said during this time he was forced to hide his work because of his father's disapproval, in addition to his fear of black nationalist movements.
"The pressures he overcame as an African American is so decadent," said Paul DeMuro, a Mason Gross School of the Arts graduate student. "He was an abstract artist in a time when abstract wasn't popular."
Whitney said he started painting in 1964 and entered the Columbus College of Art and Design. He would tend to not even look at the still life or model he was painting, as the colors themselves became real to him, he said.
"His ideas of colors have always been with him," DeMuro said. "He has an innate intelligence. It's internal, not external."
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