ALL: Master Collection List
Nationality
New Zealander
Preview
Date of Work
1996
Medium
Oil on plywood
Signature
Lower Right
Height
48 1/4"
Width
47 3/4"
Collection/Provenance
Art & Design Study Collection
Status
Stored: 234_W04
Location
UND Art Collection Repository
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)
Untitled, 1996
Oil on canvas
UND Art Collections: Art & Design Study Collection
Purchased with the funds from the Myers Foundations.
James Asiata is an artist from New Zealand that attended UND in the 1990s. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art in 1996. His paintings often reflect landscapes he has seen, and he uses thick, dramatic brush strokes to emphasize details. Asiata’s style is reminiscent of the Abstract Expressionist movement, using gestural strokes to compose the scene, rather than precision.
This piece uses large brush strokes to depict the high skyline and vegetation above the snow in what seems to be a familiar rural North Dakota scene. The road, sky, snow, and trees all blend together with flowing movement, yet the artist also uses the paint in a way that emphasizes each element.
Text taken from exhibition poster:
"My landscape paintings are based on a series of scenes I have encountered in Grand Forks, ND. Surprisingly enough, I was confronted with a view of a different kind. Unlike the landscapes in New Zealand of mountains, winding roads, the ocean and high skyscrapers, Grand Forks presented the challenging idea to emphasize the extremities of high skyline, low horizons propped against distant grain elevators, trees, and vast field of vegetation.
Utilizing the elements and the principles of design, I have created various scenes to represent atmosphere, light and mood, emphasizing of brush stroke, texture and the luminosity of color. Although these 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 upon 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."
Featured in "Landscapes An exhibition of paintings by James Asiata"
Road running through snowy field next to power lines.
Blue, white and brown winter scene
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
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.”