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    Werner Bronkhorst’s Tiny Beachgoers and Sailors Wade Through Chunky Blue Expanses

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    Detail of “Walk On Water” (2025),
    archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69. All images courtesy of Dellaposa, shared with permission

    Werner Bronkhorst’s Tiny Beachgoers and Sailors Wade Through Chunky Blue Expanses

    July 23, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    In a world constrained by rising sea levels and the climate anxiety that comes with a warming planet, it’s not far-fetched to imagine a life surrounded by the blue ocean. For Werner Bronkhorst, the overwhelming nature of this potential future inspires a collection of mixed-media works that find minuscule figures amid broad expanses.

    Bronkhorst’s new body of work, Sail Away, on view at Dellaposa, visualizes solitary protagonists as they trudge to the beach or surf on a seemingly endless tide. Thick impasto strokes in varying shades of blue provide an abstract backdrop for each piece and minimize the already tiny characters. “I pour layers of gel, then wait for landscapes to emerge—mountains, waves, ice. Only then do I add the figures,” the artist shares.

    “Mockney” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    Given their rare communion with other humans, Bronkhorst’s subjects also seem to embody the dissociation and disconnection of a post-digital world. Like a blip when viewed from afar, the figures emerge from their gestural environments as if in low resolution, their distinctive features impossible to discern.

    Raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Bronkhorst now lives and works in Australia. You can find more of his practice on Instagram.

    “Sail Away” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395 gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    Detail of “Sail Away” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395 gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    Detail of “Mockney” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    Detail of “Blue Water High” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    “Blue Water High” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    “Diamond Sea” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, signed by the artist, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    “Walk On Water” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

    Detail of “Diamond Sea” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, signed by the artist, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

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      in Art

      Sparse Brushstrokes Give Rise to Thick Impasto in Jose Lerma’s Minimal Portraits

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      “Leidy” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 48 x 36 inches. All images courtesy of Jose Lerma and Nino Mier Gallery, shared with permission

      Sparse Brushstrokes Give Rise to Thick Impasto in Jose Lerma’s Minimal Portraits

      March 13, 2025

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      When Jose Lerma encountered “Reception of the Grand Condé by Louis XIV” by Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, he found himself drawn to the figures tucked far behind the crowd. Known for his meticulous realism, Gérôme rendered these small characters with minimal brushstrokes, a decision that has influenced Lerma’s work for more than a decade.

      Exaggerating the sparse quality of the figures, Lerma (previously) paints portraits in wide swaths of acrylic applied with brooms and industrial tools. The new works retain the contrasts of earlier pieces as well-defined strokes sweep across the burlap to form heavy, impasto ridges.

      “Yamila” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 72 x 48 inches

      At Nino Mier Gallery in Brussels, Lerma’s new solo exhibition Bayamonesque presents the culmination of his current style. The title references his upbringing in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and how we think about resemblance. Painting both real subjects and manufactured characters, the portraits reference those who might otherwise be relegated to the background, stripping down their likeness to only what’s necessary.

      Vacillating between figurative and abstract, the compositions are what Lerma refers to as “the summary of a portrait…The abstract painter in me is, above all, drawn to certain people for specific features that can be broken down to their bare minimum as paintable elements: an expressive cowl, a striking nose, a distinctive shape of lips.”

      Bayamonesque is on view from March 14 to April 17 in Brussels. Find more from Lerma on Instagram.

      “Celimar” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Leda” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 72 x 48 inches

      “Clarisa” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Felo” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 24 x 16 inches

      “Ismaela” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Rania” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Fernanda” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 24 x 16 inches

      “Lisi” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 48 x 36 inches

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    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      In a Resounding ‘Renaissance,’ Conrad Jon Godly’s Acrylic Paintings Scale Alpine Peaks

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      “RENAISSANCE # 21” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 39 3/8 x 47 1/4 inches. All images courtesy of JD Malat Gallery, shared with permission

      In a Resounding ‘Renaissance,’ Conrad Jon Godly’s Acrylic Paintings Scale Alpine Peaks

      November 27, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Through the deft manipulation of thick acrylic paint on canvas, Conrad Jon Godly summons snow-capped peaks, tumbling mountain springs, and shifting weather.

      At JD Malat Gallery, the Swiss artist (previously) presents his largest body of work to date, RENAISSANCE, which follows a four-year hiatus. Godly is open about the mental health struggles that prevented him from painting, and in addition to his return to the gallery setting, the title refers to his experience of a “rebirth” as he overcame personal strife.

      “RENAISSANCE # 03” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      Godly is known for his dramatic impasto depictions of mountain landscapes, which were historically created using oil paint. In this new series, he has transitioned to acrylic, which dries much faster and lends itself to opacity. He conveys the striking beauty of the Swiss Alps through fundamental compositional elements like texture, form, and tonal shifts.

      Viewed up close, Godly’s paintings melt into near-abstraction as our attention is drawn to the qualities of the paint and the interaction of light and shadow. Farther away, the meticulously formed edges and gestural brush strokes reveal the crisp outlines of snow, rock, waterfalls, and storms.

      RENAISSANCE will inhabit both floors of the gallery in London and run from December 12 to January 18. In the meantime, see more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “RENAISSANCE # 06” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 34” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 59 x 51 1/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 25” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 43” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 70 7/8 x 90 1/2 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 29” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 59 x 51 1/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 07” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 28” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 05” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

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    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Art

      Minimal Strokes Applied with a Broom Form Jose Lerma’s Tactile Portraits

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      Art
      #abstract
      #impasto
      #painting
      #portraitsFebruary 7, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Jose Lerma, shared with permissionTo create his thick, abstract portraits, Chicago-based artist Jose Lerma trades his brush for hefty, commercial brooms that follow the lines of preliminary sketches. “The process of these paintings is laborious. I make my own paint and fabricate my supports. The material is heavy and unwieldy,” he tells Colossal. “It is done in one shot because it dries very fast, so there is a minimal margin for mistakes.”Lerma’s impasto works shown here have evolved from his original series of Paint Portraits, which revealed the general outline of a figure without any distinctive details. Wide swaths trace the length of the subject’s hair or neck, leaving ridges around the perimeter and a solid gob of pigment at the end of each stroke. His forward-facing portraits tend to split the figure in half by using complementary shades of the same color to mirror each side of a face.With a background in social sciences, history, and law, much of Lerma’s earlier pieces revolved around translating research into absurd, childlike installations and more immersive projects. “In recent works, maybe due to returning to my home in Puerto Rico and a much more relaxed non-academic setting, I have eliminated my reliance on history and research and now concentrate on just making portraits,” he shares. “It’s an approachable, tactile, and disarming aesthetic, but the absurdity remains perhaps in the excessive materiality.”Now, Lerma “works in reverse” and begins with a specific image that he reduces to the most minimal markings. “It’s a large work painted in the manner of a small work, and I think that has the psychological effect of making the viewer feel small, more like a child,” he says.Living and working between Puerto Rico and Chicago, where he teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lerma currently has paintings on view in a number of shows: he’s at Yusto/Giner in Málaga through March 24 and part of the traveling LatinXAmerican exhibition. In April, he’ll be showing with Nino Mier Gallery at Expo Chicago and in May at Galeria Diablo Rosso in Panama. Until then, see more of his works on Instagram.
      #abstract
      #impasto
      #painting
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