On
Sunday, March 12, 2017 Upper West Restaurant will exhibit and host a reception
for the art of Thomas Mercer Hartman. Every few months the popular Santa Monica
restaurant presents a new exhibition featuring a local Los Angeles artist.
“Explorations,” will feature fourteen recent works created by the artist at his
Santa Monica studio.
Hartman
attended a recent opening at Upper West. “I appreciate the attention that the
restaurant provides artists. The concept to showcase contemporary art in a fine
dining venue is interesting.” He added, “It’s a grand living room with a
personal collection.”
We talked
over lunch–he loves the short rib sandwich–about his design profession and
artwork. “I have degrees in art and design. “Early in my career I designed
numerous exhibits for LACMA–Renee Lalique, Louis Cartier, and other art
exhibits.” His design studio grew with clients that included nature centers,
state parks, zoos, and entertainment venues. However, museum planning and
exhibition design were his niche client base.
As a
visual artist, Hartman approaches each new work differently. I asked about Blue
Falls, a large work with a deep sense of space. “I finished work on a series of sculptural
assemblages and decided to turn back to painting. I wanted the work to be
monumental so I bought this 5’ x 10’ canvas,” said Hartman. “This canvas sat
for a year before I started painting. The scale haunted me. For the next six
months I tested a number of abstract ideas. Building the surface took a couple
of months work along with adding layers of paint. Surface became a character
for me in this painting. Slowly the concept of painting a waterfall emerged. The
desire was to paint the feeling of the water.”
Hartman explained another work Ferus,
a large panel painting. “After completing Blue Falls, I decided to work
directly on a panel, as canvas can be too flexible. The way I worked on this
piece was horizontal.
The panel was painted with subsequent pours added, of
pigment infused concrete slurries.” In some areas he worked wet acrylic or
house paints into colored wet concrete. I asked him if the process is fast
after you have mastered the technique. “Never!” he said quickly, “The challenge
is to know when to stop. Excitement pushes you but the layers need time to set.
This piece hung in the studio for months until I saw it needed several more
layers. Often the work evolves in that manner. It’s ‘finished’ until you know
it isn’t.”
To
find out more about the artist, Thomas Hartman, or his design business, check
out his websites
http://www.mercerprojects.com
http://www.IQMAGIC.net
On Sunday March 12th, Upper
West Restaurant will host an artist reception for “Explorations” from 4-7pm.
Upper West is located at 3321 Pico Blvd, Santa
Monica, CA, 310 586-1111; http://www.theupperwest.com/
