ABOUT THE ARTIST

James Conlan's Inscapes showcase two bodies of work separated by a half century. The first series was painted shortly after he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan School of Art. The second series came about at the urging of his daughter, Shanti Conlan. 

     The demands of family and the lure of a professional career took Conlan away from painting for a half century. During this time, he helmed a successful advertising boutique, played jazz professionally, and became a popular voice talent, amid other pursuits. But the lure of painting was never absent. Retirement - and his daughter's persistence - gave him the incentive to revisit the ideas that had occupied him in the 1970's. After 50 years, they still held great power.

     All of these paintings, old and new, are abstract landscapes. Because they are ambiguous interplays between what lies below and above the earth, he coined the term "Inscapes." They employ a stain technique Conlan first discovered in the work of Helen Frankenthaler. This technique uses washes of color instead of impasto. While Frankenthaler painted in oils, Conlan felt that acrylics would provide richer, more vivid color and better wash and staining properties. 

     Conlan stopped painting on an easel and built a horizontal armature, enabling him to paint on both sides and let the colors bleed through. In some cases, he will decide on the “front” only in the final stages of the work.