David Antonides, Watercolorist in Soho, New York

Visiting galleries in Soho and Chelsea was a must when I visited New York.  Soho, unfortunately, in general, has completely lost edge, except some street vendors showing their own tenacious efforts. A happy exception was the Broadfoot and Broadfoot Gallery, which featured many wonderful water-colors by David Antonides. 













I was very taken by his amazing cityscape watercolors, which were quite opaque and weighty, not the usual lightness one often associated with watercolors.  His works are moody, multiple-layered and evocative.

Int his website, Antonides states that he "was born in Whitehorse, Yukon in 1958, he has studied in Vancouver, Europe and at the Art Students League of New York. His work is focused on watercolor, but in an approach that creates a weight and drama not typical of this soft, light and delicate medium."

The gracious gallery owner described to us how Antonides worked with this media and his special method.  He would soak the paper and put on one layer of watercolor then let it dry completely, then he would add more colors.  Such process of his, enable him to achieve his stated goal:

Watercolor can make a strong statement and be monumental. It can have weight and gravity. I am searching to create mass, weight, and express an alternate, nature of watercolor. I want to explore the contrast between the subtlety of complex color transitions and the strength of dense, robust marks.

>> New York City Report, September 2010, Part XIX: Jennifer Steinkamp at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York City
<< New York City Report, September 2010, Part XVII: Barry McGee Mural, Soho, New York 2010