ART INTER(VIEWS)

CONTEMPORARY ARTIST INTERVIEWS 
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Greg Haberny, Burn All Crayons Venezuelan artist, Mariana Monteagudo
TALKING PAINTING WITH 
CHRISTIAN REX VAN MINNEN
So, you were switching studios yesterday?

Yeah, moved just down the street near the Navy Yards.Very excited.This is my first legit, out-of-home art studio. With a door and bathroom, anyway.

What does a day look like for you at the studio?

Coffee. I put together a media playlist for the day, alternating between podcasts, music, audiobooks. I try to spend a good amount of time thinking about my palette- if i can use up yesterday's palette on something, build a new one, scraping, cleaning, etc. I try to gauge my mood and what process is best suited for that mood: underpainting is good for restlessness, grisaille for anxiety, glazing for more serene moods. Facebook and all that is persistent distraction, of course.

There's a lot of historic references in your work. How has your paintings developed over the years to the point of how we know them today?

Yes, there are. I am interested in the formal aspects of portraiture and still-life; the geometry and system of delivering information in those specific stylistic conventions. I see them as a sort of marketing platform. Before i became engaged, and engorged, in Old Master's painting i was doing basic surrealism, using a lot of automatic drawing but without any compositional constraints. 
THE WORK OF CHRISTIAN REX VAN MITTEN IS A COMBUSTION OF TRADITIONAL PORTRAITURE WITH A CONTEMPORARY TWIST AND MANY MANY CUPS OF COFFEE.WE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM AS HE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A MOVE.HE WAS NICE ENOUGH TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS. 
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Portraiture and still-life provided me something to bump into. I still use those art historical references as a crutch and I foresee a day when I will need to ween myself from them.

Are you ever surprised with how a piece starts and how it ends?

I try to make a point of it. I try to keep it tastefully awkward.

Tell us a little bit about the Great Western Buffet? Are you into buffets?

No, I think buffets are gross actually. Giant petri dishes. I think
that western culture has a giant shit sandwich to eat and we all gottatake a bite. Spiritual healing through the eating of shit sandwiches.

Congrats on becoming a father. How has it been? Has the transition been real different of how you make work?


Thank you. It has been amazing and intense and a lot of other newemotions that I don't have a name for yet. The 'how' part hasn'tchanged, but the 'when' certainly has, and maybe even the 'why' part alittle bit. In general I have to be a little more efficient andeffective with my time. Less studio catatonia. 

Lowest point of your art career was when?

Anytime there was anything that had something to do with an'art-career' was a high point! I've really had to piece this thing together doing whatever I could- set design, furniture commissions,portraits, teaching- I even did an illustration for Playboy once. I've done some art-career things I would rather have not done but in the end it was always better than digging a ditch or mowing a lawn, or pulling up old floors. Anytime I was lucky enough to do something art related and get paid for it I was pretty happy. There have been days sitting catatonic in the studio surrounded by piss bottles and thinking of suicide. But that's just a low point in life that caused my art to suffer. That was me just being a narcissistic idiot.

Highest point thus far of your art career was when?

Getting to quit my job as a delivery driver a couple years ago and working full-time as a painter. It's really been great. Moving to NewYork has also been incredible. I've been able to meet so many artists and cool people. It's the first time I've really felt a part of a
community.
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To learn more about Christian Rex van Minnen visit his site right here