Second Friday Picture Show: 20 Miles Around Shohola, Part II

A Second Friday Picture Show
by Jonathan K. Slingluff
Last week, our featured artist for October, Jonathan Slingluff, showcased photographs from an upcoming exhibit in Scranton, PA, "Photographs, Paintings and Gatherings." Today, we're sharing some shots of Slingluff's paintings, including a few detail pieces. Slingluff is well-known for his minimalist paintings of stark landscapes -- a perfect complement to a crisp autumn day. From our curator, Kevin:

I first saw Slingluff’s paintings when I was living in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. I fell in love with how he captured a landscape (oceans and cornfields primarily). His “Oceans” were dominated by an expansive sky taking the viewer away from what you would think of when visiting a beach. The sand and ocean were present in the most minimal way. The skyline taking up 4/5 of the canvas was what drew you in. It was like looking at a world of possibilities, dreams, melancholy wrapped up in blue paint. Why fill up a canvas with sand and water? I get that. How do you make a beach painting not look tacky? How do you make a skyline look classic and modern in the same stroke? Slingluff figured it out. 

The paintings in this month’s Picture Show are not of Oceans, but Slingluff’s cornfields. I feel the same emotions when looking at the cornfields. The snow: the stalks barely holding for life. They are beautiful and speak volumes to me when thinking about the farms where I grew up. The expansive sky lets you know how small and large the world is in a few brush strokes. Years ago when talking to Jonathan about his work he said that he would rather see his “Oceans” on the wall in a cabin in the woods and the “Cornfields” at the beach. I always keep that in mind when I look at the collection of work that I have of his. I live in Philadelphia -- right in between the Atlantic Ocean and miles of cornfields.