October 4 – November 5, 2022
Subtle Gestures offered insight into Justin Natividad’s nuanced painting practice: a heightened sense of realism, filtered through a lens of luminosity.
Subtle Gestures: Justin Natividad at VillageOneArt offered viewers insight into the artist’s nuanced painting practice in his first solo show in New York City. The artist’s demonstrated acumen across a range of painterly styles offered the viewer a range of experiences, spanning deft expressions of diffuse, atmospheric light and figurative articulation. His paintings capture a heightened sense of realism, filtered through a lens of luminosity, offering the viewer access to a depth of emotional and psychological landscapes. The artist’s facility with figurative painting emerges from his subtle gestures, infusing surfaces with warm tones and painterly brushstrokes that define anatomical structures in a charged and introspective manner.
Artist Cordy Ryman reflected on Natividad’s grasp of figuration and representation. “In his paintings you can clearly see a highly developed eye, a sharp mind, a sensitivity to materials,” remarked Ryman. “What strikes me when viewing his work is his capture of a fleeting, cathartic, existential pause, giving the viewer an unsettled pause and space for thought.” This diaphanous treatment of his subject matter lends the artist’s paintings an airiness and a lingering sense of introspection, prompting the viewer to spend time examining the elements of his compositions. His painterly figuration aligns with contemporary standard-bearers such as Lucian Freud and Alex Katz, and his adroit renderings of vacant street scenes have an air of Edward Hopper, while his attention to striking minutiae and detail denotes a strongly developed artistic style.
The artist noted that his frequent influences lie in personal travels and experiences. “I found myself reaching further back to an emotionally unfamiliar place,” shared Natividad. “It’s here where I tried to find my footing for this body of work.” The artist’s balanced yet nuanced approach to gesture and articulation offered the viewer something new to examine at every turn in this rewarding solo exhibition.
Works in the Exhibition
Subtle Gestures was on view at VillageOneArt, 150 West 25th Street, Suite 403, New York, from October 4 to November 5, 2022. For inquiries regarding available works by Justin Natividad, please contact info@villageoneart.com.