ALL: Master Collection List

 

Artist

James Asiata

Nationality

New Zealander

Preview

image preview

Date of Work

ca. 1996

Medium

Acrylic

Height

40 1/4"

Width

57 5/8"

Collection/Provenance

UND Art Collections: Art & Design Study Collection

Status

On Display: First floor

Location

Memorial Union

Artist Bio

James Asiata was a graduate student from New Zealand who attended UND in the 90s. His paintings utilize the styles of Abstract Expressionism with an emphasis on brush stroke and color.

Additional Information

Student composed text panel:

James Asiata (New Zealander)
View of Odegard, 1996
Acrylic
UND Art Collections: Art & Design Study Collection
Student exhibition purchase by the Department of Art & Design

James Asiata is a former student of UND and attended campus during the 1990s. In 1996, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Department of Art and Design. Asiata then went on to graduate school in his native country of New Zealand. Emphasizing color and brush strokes, Asiata incorporated the abstract expressionism style into his paintings. Much of this was done through his use of applying thick layers of paint.

This large painting created by Asiata in 1996 features a part of the UND campus. The buildings in the night-time winter scene are two of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace buildings. Odegard Hall is on the left and Clifford Hall on the right. Though it is a night setting, Asiata utilized many bright and bold colors to ensure the vivid brush stroke detail was easy to see.

From the exhibition poster:

"My landscape paintings are based on a series of things I've encountered in Grand Forks, ND. Surprisingly enough, I was confronted with the view of a different kind. unlike the landscapes in New Zealand of mountains, winding roads, the ocean and high skies scrapers, Grand Forks presented the challenging idea to emphasize the extremities of high skyline, low horizons propped against distant grain elevators, trees, invest fields of vegetation.

Utilizing the elements in the principles of design, I have created various scenes to represent atmosphere, light mood, emphasizing of brush stroke, texture, and the luminosity of color. Although these are traits used by artists of the Impressionistic Period, I have learned to develop the ability to see nature as a colorist.

Further evaluation on my beliefs as an artist has led me to look up on the various styles of Abstract Expressionism. In contrast to color, the introduction of geometry overlapping my landscapes is the way I view Grand Forks. Extremely horizontal and vertical. This abstraction emanates a style that is obvious and tangible. My adopted style continues to progress in the experience, in the development and in the problem solving. My aim is to characterize nature, color and abstraction, in painting the landscape."

LANDSCAPES, An exhibition of paintings by James Asiata. August 12-22, 1996, Reception: Monday August 12th, 7:00pm-9:00pm, Hughes Fine Arts Center Gallery- University of North Dakota- Grand Forks, North Dakota

Landscape with UND campus buildings, cityscape, winter scene at night.

Condition

Excellent

Rights

Images are provided for educational purposes only and may not be reproduced for commercial use. Images may be protected by artist copyright. A credit line is required to be used for any public non-commercial educational purpose. The credit line must include, “Image courtesy of the University of North Dakota.”

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