On Saturday, February 4 visitors to the Winfield Gallery in beautiful Carmel, California were treated with an outstanding warm spring like day for the book premiere signing of Warren Chang: Narrative Paintings. A fine art exhibition of Warren’s original paintings was also on display. My estimate is that approximately 70 plus people filtered through the gallery between the signing from 1 to 4 p.m. It remained quite busy as people took advantage of meeting Warren and viewing his paintings, which are spectacular to see in person. We are grateful for the support of the local community and visitors, many of whom left with a personalized copy of Narrative Paintings. At the end of the event, Warren, the gallery owner Chris Winfield and I were all very pleased with the turnout.
A large part of the success was from the cover mention and front page article in the “Life and Times” section of The Monterey County Herald on the Friday before the show, and then repeated in The Santa Cruz Sentinel on that Saturday. This same article can be found online at The Herald’s website. An article in the local paper The Carmel Pine Cone rounded out the press to make people aware of the festivities.
I was a bit eager to listen to peoples comments when comparing the book reproduction to the originals. It felt good to hear feedback regarding how closely they matched. This was something Warren and I worked very closely together to achieve. It serves no purpose to have a book come out that does not represent an artist’s vision. Reflecting the true colors, depths and tones of the originals is imperative. In this regard I feel publishing a book is a tremendous responsibility to get right.
However, as great as a book can be, nothing beats viewing the original paintings in person. Still on display at the Winfield Gallery are Warren Chang’s paintings “Studio at Chestnut,” “Harvesters Resting,” “Fall Tilling,” “Imitation of Life,” “Stacking the Net: Monterey Harbor,” (both the final painting and a study), “Artist in Her Studio,” “Studio Interior III,” “Twilight in Santa Cruz,” “Bus Stop,” and his “Jameson Whiskey” advertisement painting that can currently be seen all over the subways in New York City. If you can make it to Carmel, I highly recommend you stop in to view his paintings. They are truly moving.
Another Warren Chang exhibition of original works and Narrative Paintings book signing will be held this February 24 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Arts Council for Monterey County in Sunset Center, Room #5 at San Carlos between 8th and 9th in Carmel, CA 93921.
We look forward to seeing you there. Thanks to everyone who made it to the Winfield Gallery!
Enjoy,
John
John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Links:
“Stories on Canvas: Illustration meets fine art in the works of Warren Chang” article in The Monterey County Herald.
Arts Council for Monterey County website
Winfield Gallery
“Warren Chang: Narrative Paintings” book details
Warren Chang website