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GL“Bob’s process always starts with photographs. If the light is particularly interesting, he will go out into the neighborhood and take pictures. I think he sees something different in it every time he goes back. That’s one thing that Bob brings to these paintings. He’s not just doing a painting to capture the look of a neighborhood and then tossing it aside. He’s actually spending years looking.” —Whitney Chadwick, art historian and wife of Robert Bechtle, discussed the artist‘s process and the role photography plays in the development of his paintings for @KQED (2011).
Frequently turning the lens back onto himself for the entirety of his artistic practice, Bechtle’s self-portraits lay bare the process of aging and the physical and psychological changes that come with the lived experience. These tender and honest chronicles are essential clues to understanding Bechtle’s overall artistic oeuvre, and the care he had for Whitney, highlight his ability to separate from the constantly moving and evolving world in order to pause and reflect on his surroundings with clarity and rigor.
Bechtle‘s paintings are on view through April 29, 2022 at 515 West 24th Street.
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@gladstone.gallery
