Nothing to Live Up To was a solo exhibition dedicated to recent paintings by Howard Fonda. The selection of paintings on view concentrated on the interdependent relationships between nature, existence and time, examining the perpetual wonder, hope and heartache that is inherent to all life.
Nothing to Live Up To holds suspect our overly commercial, superficial and constructed “world”, and boldly aims beyond toward truth. Fonda has developed a large body of work over the past several years that delves into transcendental thought with a vibrant palette and complex perspective. Using a direct process called alla prima, oil paint is applied wet into wet to the canvas in one sitting. This directness offers a tension and immediacy similar to the process of drawing. For Fonda, the formal qualities of painting – the emphasis on color, line, shape and texture – are equally as important as the conceptual elements being interpreted on the canvas.
