Saturday, December 10, 2011

BEAUTY: Painting--Jerry Wayne Downs

Trained as an animator at Disney Studios in 1956, artist Jerry Wayne Downs worked on such classics as "Sleeping Beauty," "Mary Poppins," "The Sword in the Stone," and "The Jungle Book." He left Disney in 1967 to paint and has since created a marvelous catalog of surreal images that reference cartoons, Magritte, Dali, and Constable! I really like his staircases in forests and the way he mythologizes machinery. But of particular note is his chilling "I Remember California" series which shows recognizable L.A. landmarks in a far off future when the landscape of the planet has changed dramatically; it recalls the final scene of "Planet of the Apes" where Heston finds the top of the Statue of Liberty partially encased in a rocky cliff and sticking up out of the sand of a coastal beach.


Top to bottom: I Remember California-(I Remember California series); Nest of Giants; October At The Roxy; Psychoradiology - Autumn Leaves; Psychoradiology - Staircase; Reserved Seating Only; The Machine In The Garden - The Cloister Engine; The Performer (Disney Concert Hall)-(I Remember California series); The Recital; The Silents (Capitol Records)-(I Remember California series)

I can't find a dedicated website but there are several gallery sites that represent his work. Below is one.
http://www.glassgaragegallery.com/lib/frameset1.php?artist_code=JD&id=49

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