Julia Lucich – The Party Continues - Spring 2008 Issue of Horses in Art Magazine

Julia Lucich – The Party Continues

Party Animals – Mixed media, 18 x 24, by Julia Lucich. This is the first painting that began the Party Animals series.
Julia Lucich had been painting traditional genre scenes and portraiture for about fifteen years before she painted the first in her series of Party Animals.

Lucich relates, “The first image of the series began innocuously enough from a photo of three giraffes taken by my husband at a wildlife game park. The photo was of three giraffes lying in a field with their necks intersecting, forming a marvelous composition. I probably began the painting half a dozen times but became bored with the monotonous palette of varying shades of brown. Purely to restore my own enthusiasm, I decided to push the palette beyond conventional color while striving to maintain the correct values necessary to render the giraffes as “real.”

“I was asked to exhibit in a one-woman show and chose to include the giraffes with my more traditional portrait, figure and still life works. The response astonished me, particularly the smiles and joy the piece evoked. There had never been an effort at whimsy, yet that was clearly the reaction it received.”

Some months later the gallery asked Lucich back for another show and wanted to know if there would be more Party Animals, she realized the painting had given birth to a theme. Lucich has painted nearly two hundred images in the series and comments, “As long as I enjoy painting them, the party will continue.”

Party on the Run – Mixed media, 18 x 28, by Julia Lucich.
Even in her traditional work, there is a visual force to Lucich’s idea of color. In the Party Animals the colors’ lively vibrations demonstrate how effectively color can function to elicit a response. The distinctive colors paired with the well-chosen titles are playful and a source of delight.

Lucich comments, “It’s interesting that by adding an element of unexpected color, an image somehow translates to humor. As the artist, I find that fascinating. But then, what’s to say that serious art can’t leave us smiling?”

“The images which I choose to paint are ones which leave me feeling better; by that I mean I prefer to create joy over angst. I loathe giving an artist’s statement for any painting since inevitably it is up to the viewer to find what the painting has to say.”

To view Julia Lucich’s artwork and more Party Animals visit www.landingpartygallery.com

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