Raandesk Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by painter, Jeff Huntington. On view from September 10 – October 30, the exhibition is comprised of 10 new works. Focusing primarily on portraits of children, Huntington uses Old Master paintings as his point of departure, while also incorporating elements – such as mug-shot photographs – from contemporary life. Subtly disquieting portraits capture subjects in moments of stress, panic, fear, confusion, and resignation.

In order to evoke the Old Master style, Huntington employs the grisaille painting technique, famously used by Johannes Vermeer. Beginning with a black and white layer of underpainting, shades of gray are overlaid with layers of color to create works that appear to jump out from the picture plane. Using his own nieces and nephews as models, Huntington explores the capacity of external influences such as European aristocracy and totalitarian propaganda art to obscure familial intimacy and create a lingering sense of anxiety and emotional longing.

About the Artist

Jeff Huntington lives and works in Washington, D.C. He received his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997, and his BFA at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1995. He has had solo exhibitions throughout the greater Washington, D.C. area and has been included in group exhibitions at various venues throughout the U.S. including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois; Alpan Gallery, Long Island, New York; The Alternative Museum, New York; and Raandesk Gallery, New York.