103SHOW PREVIEWthat is illuminated in Loic Zimmermann’s
2018 documentary on the artist, A Solitary
Mann—are paramount above all else.
“Composition is definitely my formal
element drink of choice, hence the over 170
cityscapes in the Composition series. I spend
an enormous amount of time preparing
the reference with a multitude of charac-
teristics, so that when I begin to paint on
a completely blank panel with only two or
three marked points (perspectives, thirds
and halves), most of the problems are solved,
and I can simply ‘let go’ and trust my years
of study and practice to allow the painting
to have that elusive quality of life,” Mann
says. “Many of the more vertical elements,
as well as tonality and value systems,
have arisen from inspirations found in my
custom analog cameras and photography
in the darkroom, as well as a long obsession
pursuing the feeling of life by studying
nature through plein air, looking for the link
between how we perceive nature, and how
she reveals herself to us.”
Color also plays an important role,
evident in Note in Blue #6, which is keyed
very cool in soft blues, and White Orchid,
which is almost monochromatic in grays.
How does he determine where to start with
color, and where to end? He says, “When
I tried to think of an answer for this, I realized
I just choose on a whim. Whatever color
harmony best works with the image from
the homemade cameras (which therefore
are heavily based on the light and the set
design I created at the beginning of the
photoshoot), combined with the overall
‘mood’ I wish to convey, which is generally
ethereal and desaturated...very much how
I see life and memory.”
It’s remarkable, then, that Mann has been
able to translate so much of his artistic
vision—especially the ethereal and desatu-
rated—into so many different mediums,
including film with The Conductor. Here’s
an artist who is completely comfortable
exploring outside his comfort zone, and
creating new comfort zones entirely.
“Film is truly amazing to me, having only
painted for so long. It has the possibility totruly elicit how life functions as we see it,
with movement, time, relations (editing),
sound and the verbal word,” he says. “But
I will always be a painter as well. While film
is a direct capture, a recording of life on
playback, painting itself is creating life from
nothing. With a blank surface upon which
to hold your vision, and with the entire
world of tools and materials to choose from,
the mind, vision, values and statements of
an artist is created out from the soul, and
remains upon the surface, tangible, forever
and solitary. In all the world, there is only
one of that painting. What a thing that is
to create...what a true feeling of what it is
to be a human, with your fingers in the grit,
bringing something beautiful to life, that
only you can. That is the power of presence
you feel when you stand before a painting
in a museum or gallery, and nothing will
ever replace that.”Evoke Contemporarye
550 S. Guadalupe Street • Santa Fe, NM 87501 •
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