Where the Alley Meets the Street

In 2011 I started a series of drawings of Chicago Alleys.  I tried to capture the experience of exploring Chicago's other street grid at night.  It was somewhat of a diversion from the street scenes that I had been painting for some time.

Inspired by these sketches, I wanted to somehow incorporate the feel of the alley drawings in my painting. I started by focusing on an aspect of the drawings.  What came naturally were the phone poles and wires.  These paintings were largely formal studies of line, shape and color.

However, I wanted to somehow incorporate the buildings of my past work.  The backs of the buildings were not as colorful and seemed less interesting in these intimate closeups of alley life than what you would find in front.

So I started painting the corner of the alley where it meets the cross street.  These current paintings examine the utility of the alley and the formal presentation of the street.  Below is a sample of the earlier work and the first of the cross street paintings.

Overhang | oil on canvas | 22"x16" 

Power Trio | oil on canvas | 22"x16" 

Strung Up | oil on canvas | 22"x16"

Synchronized | oil on canvas | 22"x16"

Tangled Web | oil on canvas | 22"x16"