LISA DINHOFER
Illusionist Painter
CREATIVE PROCESS visits the SoHo studio
of artist Lisa Dinhofer.
Editor's Note: This archived Biddington's article was originally published in 1997, with updates added in 2005.
Lisa DINHOFER: Every object I paint actually exists; I work from life. The space I create is believable--but not real. Because I design my own space, I call myself an "illusionist" painter rather than a "realist".
Lisa DINHOFER: I was an art major in high school at Abraham Lincoln High in New York City. Leon Friend taught there. For me, drawing came first; painting came in college. Brandeis had great studios and an intense peer group. I am happy I went to a liberal arts school. I learned how to think. It's important to order your thoughts--whatever your means of expression.
Lisa Dinhofer "31 Marbles & A Mouse"
Graphite Drawing on Paper
Lisa DINHOFER: I decided I wanted to paint figuratively, so I went to University of Pennsylvania for graduate school. Neil Welliver and Bob Engman were teaching there at the time. Every week they would invite artists down from New York City to critique each student's work; it was a great luxury having weekly studio visits.
Lisa DINHOFER: Penn had adopted the color theory class Interaction of Color developed by Josef Albers at Yale. It was in this class that I lost my fear of color.
Lisa Dinhofer "Summer 2000 #3"
Oil on Paper
Lisa DINHOFER: Early in the 20th century Cubism and abstraction started to change the representation of space. The space in my work is invented. It's flattened--like the space we see on a television or a computer screen.
Lisa DINHOFER: The elements in my paintings are meant to work abstractly from a distance; then as you approach the painting they resolve themselves into specific objects.
Reflection detail from
Dinhofer painting
Wings
Lisa DINHOFER: The objects--such as the marbles--in my paintings are very precisely, very realistically painted. You can even tell which studio I'm working in by the reflections from the windows and the objects in the glass. But the space is an imaginary construct.
Lisa DINHOFER: I've always collected beautiful things; I like embroidered textiles and glass objects. I love to spend hours painting the details.
Detail of glass bank from
Dinhofer painting Americana Crazy
"As her compositions become more baroque, Dinhofer, literally, does not lose sight of her purpose which has remained steady and unremitting. It is hardly accidental that her continuing preoccupation has been depicting objects made of glass. Glass, though solid, is transparent, deflecting and transmitting light at the same time. Dinhofer's bottles, mirrors and marbles remind us that light is the principal component of any great painting, from Duccio to Vermeer to De Kooning."
--Michael Boodro, "Lisa Dinhofer", Arts Magazine.
Studio Still Life Set-up for Painting
Lisa DINHOFER: Even though I work from life, my color and my space are both very contemporary. Contemporary color has an acid quality and an intensity to it. A painter like Wayne Thiebaud places colors next to one another and lets the eye blend it. The contemporary viewer accepts this separation of color. It wasn't the norm before the 20th century--though it does appear in some of David's paintings.
Painting in Progress
Lisa DINHOFER: When I look at work, I often look backwards because there is little information for my kind of painting in contemporary art. For drawing, I've always loved to look at Ingres. I also like the "Luminists" like Sanford Gifford from the Hudson River School.
Lisa Dinhofer "Aviary"
Oil on Panel in Antique Frame
Lisa DINHOFER: In addition to Thiebaud, among contemporary painters, I always look forward to Janet Fish's shows. And I like William Bailey--his work is very metaphysical. My work is also influenced by writings on art and aesthetics such as: Aristotle's Poetics, Tolstoy's What is Art? and Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word.
Lisa DINHOFER: I hadn't made prints since graduate school, but I returned to printmaking in 1995. It gives me a chance to explore line--it's an extension of drawing.
Lisa Dinhofer "Mouse"
Etching with Chine Collé
Lisa DINHOFER:"Mouse" combines etching with a technique called "chine collé". The chine collé collage stencil makes the shadow. I wanted the sense of movement with the mouse escaping the page.
Lisa DINHOFER: My "Contained Environment" series was inspired by some old French prints I saw at The Print Fair. These etchings are created using two plates. The outer frame depicts nature at large. The inner one shows nature as captured--preserved within glass. I experimented with ink colors--mixing a Van Dyke brown for the outer frame and a cooler grey for the center plate of the etching.
Lisa Dinhofer "Contained Environment #3"
Etching
Lisa DINHOFER: "Loosing My Marbles #15" is from a series of prints that relate to my large commissioned mural for New York City MTA subway station at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. This print is a mixed-media piece. It starts with printing from an etching plate for the black and white checkerboard, then I color-print the marbles and collage them onto the grid. Finally, using gouache and watercolor, I paint in the shadows and reflections. While it is called an "editioned print" each one is handmade.
Lisa Dinhofer "Loosing My Marbles #15"
Mixed-media Print
Lisa Dinhofer in Her Studio
Lisa Dinhofer is represented in public and corporate collections including:
New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority Mural 42nd Street and 8th Avenue
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Pfizer, Inc, New York, NY
The Forbes Magazine Collection, New York, NY
Dupont Corporation, Wilmington, DE
IBM, Atlanta, GA
Cargill Corporation, Minneapolis, MN
CUNY, New York, NY
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Lisa Dinhofer has exhibited in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions including:
2005 MTA Arts for Transit UBS Gallery, NYC
2003, 2004, 2005 Denise Bibro Fine Art, NYC
2000 Pfizer Corporate Gallery, NYC
2000, 1994-1998 National Academy of Design, NYC
1999 Prince Street Gallery, NYC
1998, 1996, 1995 Goldstrum Gallery, NYC
1991 Toyamaya Gallery (solo), Kobe, Japan
1990 Sazama Gallery (solo), Chicago, ILL
1986 Schmidt-Bingham Gallery (solo), NYC
1978 Kornblee Gallery (solo), NYC
Lisa Dinhofer has received awards, grants and fellowships including:
2000 Gladys Emerson Cook Prize, National Academy of Design, NYC
1994 Virginia Center for Creative Arts Fellowship
1988 Millay Colony for the Arts Fellowship
1982 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant
1972 Purchase Award, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
Lisa Dinhofer teaches drawing at the National Academy of Design in New York City.
ABOUT THIS FEATURE
CREATIVE PROCESS at Biddington's is designed as a forum for watching art in the making. Usually, this process happens in the privacy of the artist's studio. At BIDDINGTON'S we find it interesting to witness the steps leading to the end product and to hear the artists speak about their work in the relaxed surroundings of their own studios.
COPYRIGHT: Images and information within www.biddingtons.com are Copyright Biddington's, Inc.--except where superceded by individual copyrights of the artists.
Downloading or printing for online or print reproduction of any materials without specific written permission from Biddington's, Inc. is prohibited.
BIDDINGTON'S CREATIVE PROCESS Archives:
Sigmund Abeles Expressive Realist Painter
Javier Astorga Metal Figurative Sculpture
Nancy Azara Sculptor
Tova Beck-Friedman Sculptor & Mixed-Media Artist
Todd Bellanca Abstract Painter
Carol Bruns Bronze Figurative Sculptor
James Burnett Non-Objective Painter
Cynthia Capriata Peruvian Painter & Printmaker
Catalina Chervin Argentine Surrealist Artist
Diane Churchill Expressionist Painter
John Clem Clarke Pop Artist
Lisa Dinhofer Illusionist Painter
Tom Duncan Narrative Polychrome Sculpture
Michael Eastman Faux-Primitive Painter
Eduardo Fausti Natural History Paintings
Lynne Frehm New York Abstract Painter
Betsey Garand Minimalist Painter & Fine Art Printmaker
Mary Teresa Giancoli Personal Documentary Photographer
Debora Gilbert-Ryan New Image Painter
Janet Goldner African-Influenced Steel Sculpture
Harry Gordon Monumental Sculpture
Marilyn Greenberg Narrative Abstract Painter
Patricia Hansen Portrait and Still Life Painter
Richard Heinrich Welded Steel Sculpture
Charles Hewitt Painter & Monotype Printmaker
Diane Holland Intermedia Collage Artist
GH Hovagimyan Pop/Conceptual Artist
LA Hughes Pop Artist
Frances Jetter Bronze Sculptor & Editorial Illustrator
Scott Kahn Fantasy Painter
Susan Kaprov Digital Printmaker and Abstract Painter
Babette Katz Narrative Printmaker and Book Artist
Richard Mock Abstract Painter & Linocut Printmaker
Bill Murphy Contemporary Realist Painter
Jim Napierala Abstract Painter
Frances Pellegrini New York City & Fashion Photographer
Joseph Reeder Cross Media Artist Paintings & Ceramics
Laura Shechter Contemporary Realist Painter
Annemarie Slipper Figurative Bronzes & Ceramic Sculpture
Gary Slipper Fantasy Painter
Margaret Speer Landscape & Travel Paintings
Serena Tallarigo Marble Sculptor
Rein Triefeldt Kinetic Sculpture
Vivian Tsao Painter of Light
Nancy Van Deren Contemporary Painter
Joan Berg Victor Drawings from Nature
Kate Wattson Contemporary Colorist Painter
Betty Winkler Organic Minimalist Painter & Printmaker
PEDIGREE & PROVENANCE--art words & terms defined.
JAKE BIDDINGTON'S INVESTING--financial advice for art collectors.
BIDDINGTON'S BENTLEY--travel for the art & antiques connoisseur. MY ART--Art for kids.
BIDDINGTON'S--Home & Search
