Thaddeus Radell
Medium: Painting Studio Location: Paintcan Studios - Studio# 316 10-10 44th Avenue Email: tradell5619@gmail.com Website:: thaddeusradell.com Artist Bio: Born and raised in Michigan, the son of two artists, Thaddeus Radell completed his B.F.A. at University of Detroit/Mercy before moving to New York City to study at Parsons School of Design with Paul Resika, Leland Bell and Jack Heliker. After receiving his M.F.A. in 1982, he spent the next several years painting and working as the studio assistant to Resika, Robert Deniro, Sr. and the sculptor, Sydney Simon. In 1984, Radell moved to France, where he taught at the Lacoste School of Arts, and was studio assistant to renowned Canadian painter, Joseph Plaskett. He spent these next fourteen years dividing his time between his studios in Provence and Paris. Returning to New York City in 2000, he presently maintains a studio in Long Island City. He exhibits and curates nationally, and is an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at The Borough of Manhattan Community College. Radell also writes reviews of exhibitions, contributing to Artcritical.com and Paintingperceptions.com. In addition to painting and works on paper, Radell works in relief sculpture and has had commissions by several corporate collectors, including J.T. Megan & Co. and Tola Capital. In 2014 Radell participated in the Heliker-LaHotan Residency Program, resulting a body of work that was featured in a one-person exhibition at the Moira Walsh Gallery in Maine. He has been a member of the Bowery Gallery, NY, since 2014 and will have a one person exhibition this Spring at the John Davis Gallery in NY. Artist Statement: My work primarily consists of figure compositions- intuitive constructions that begin with random marks establishing larger masses of torsos, heads and limbs in an undefined setting. In 2015, I found that these works sought to coalesce around my reading of Dante, Shakespeare and Sophocles. More specific images were beginning to emerge. From the depiction of actual scenes in the Inferno or King Lear, the paintings subsequently evolved into meditations on the relationship between the protagonists of these classic works. The Vaucluse paintings were inspired from a long standing dialogue I have with that enchanting corner of France. On the daily walk to my studio this last summer, I passed through several cherry orchards. The compelling image of cherry pickers led to my first foray into invented landscape. I use a cold wax medium that I make myself, combined with dry pigments and oil paint. The surfaces eventually build up into a dense, rugged terrain, resembling scorched artifacts from an archeological dig. All images and text copyright Thaddeus Radell