PORTFOLIO 3
On this page are abstractions, gesso paintings, and ceramics.
9 ABSTRACTIONS
8 GESSO PAINTINGS
Gesso is a thick, usually white, liquid that dries hard and is used to prepare surfaces to be painted. During the renaissance, a technical advance moved painting away from stiff, heavy surfaces like wood to lightweight canvas material stretched on a wooden frame. But the raw fabric soaked up too much of the linseed oil in the paint for it to dry properly, so something with exactly the right absorbent properties had to go onto the stretched fabric first. A mixture of chalk, or gypsum, which in Italian was "gesso," and animal skin glue came to serve that purpose, and has been refined over the centuries since.
From the first, gesso was occasionally used to build up surfaces into low relief before the application of pigment. Today, "hobby" painters use gesso to create textural effects. But nobody before or since has used gesso the way Gary Minkert did.
His gesso paintings, some of which he called "Dancing Demons in Hell," have an attitude of wildness and abandon about them. The gesso itself, however, works against any real spontaneity. Mink built up his compositions in several layers one atop the other. The gesso has to dry completely before another layer can be applied on top of it, and that takes several hours. Therefore, he had to have carefully planned these wild and free compositions in advance.
Once the gesso had thoroughly dried, Mink applied thin washes of oil paint to the surface and wiped the excess off from the higher elevations so that the color nestled in the pockets, wrinkles, and textures. The eeriness of these pictures comes as much from the color as from the writhing torsos.
From the first, gesso was occasionally used to build up surfaces into low relief before the application of pigment. Today, "hobby" painters use gesso to create textural effects. But nobody before or since has used gesso the way Gary Minkert did.
His gesso paintings, some of which he called "Dancing Demons in Hell," have an attitude of wildness and abandon about them. The gesso itself, however, works against any real spontaneity. Mink built up his compositions in several layers one atop the other. The gesso has to dry completely before another layer can be applied on top of it, and that takes several hours. Therefore, he had to have carefully planned these wild and free compositions in advance.
Once the gesso had thoroughly dried, Mink applied thin washes of oil paint to the surface and wiped the excess off from the higher elevations so that the color nestled in the pockets, wrinkles, and textures. The eeriness of these pictures comes as much from the color as from the writhing torsos.
6 Ceramics
Mink used the electric kilns he had when he was making novelty cups to fire ceramic sculptures built up with layer upon layer of clay coils.There were some exceptions.
CHESS SET
Pieces molded by Gary and Jesse Minkert. The hilarious ones, like the buxom queens and the geezer kings, were made by Gary.