Beyond the Photographs — Daniel Coston Art

Artist Statement: “Every year I take a lot of reference snapshots of Arkansas that I add to an ever-growing archive. Many of the images are useless but a few remind me of things I saw as a kid in Southeastern Arkansas. Some even seem iconic to me, expressing something about the geography we call home.

So I work on these pictures...drawing the scenes until I think I can do something worthwhile. These photos evoke memories in me. I want to bring these memories back. At times, the memories could be about the sunlight on a particular day...the sky in December...the thunderheads boiling up over a field.

I call this show BEYOND THE PHOTOGRAPHS because the ideas for most paintings come from a snapshot. As I work up the painting, I have to expand the visual information in order to make it work. One thing I almost always do is to look into the shadows so I can understand what is hidden and bring those things into view. The photos are what I start with but they are not what I finish with.

I intentionally take snapshots because I don’t want to copy a wonderfully detailed photo. My goal is to take the visual information and build it up into the world I remember seeing last year or even when I was just a kid.”—Daniel Coston

BEYOND THE PHOTOGRAPHS opened March 11 2016 at Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock, Arkansas, and continued through May 7th, 2016.

Sliding into the Past

Sliding into the Past

Delta Rocket

Green Hill at Supper Time

Green Hill at Supper Time

Fog on Petit Jean

Fog on Petit Jean

Castles

Wood Avenue Church

Wood Avenue Church

Will and Mabel

Time to Leave

Twisted Gate

Theological Conversations in Concrete

Theological Conversations in Concrete

Storm over Coy

Barn in the Gap

Barn in the Gap

Short History of the Delta

Short History of the Delta

Saline River Prairie

Saline River Prairie

Rusting Away

Primary Colors

Yellow and Pink and Blue

Yellow and Pink and Blue

A Light Mist

Partly Shady

Ozment Bluff

Hogeye Barn

Sliding into the Past

Sliding into the Past

Delta Rocket

Delta Rocket

Green Hill at Supper Time

Green Hill at Supper Time

Fog on Petit Jean

Fog on Petit Jean

Castles

Castles

Wood Avenue Church

Wood Avenue Church

Will and Mabel

Will and Mabel

Time to Leave

Time to Leave

Twisted Gate

Twisted Gate

Theological Conversations in Concrete

Theological Conversations in Concrete

Storm over Coy

Storm over Coy

Barn in the Gap

Barn in the Gap

Short History of the Delta

Short History of the Delta

Saline River Prairie

Saline River Prairie

Rusting Away

Rusting Away

Primary Colors

Primary Colors

Yellow and Pink and Blue

Yellow and Pink and Blue

A Light Mist

A Light Mist

Partly Shady

Partly Shady

Ozment Bluff

Ozment Bluff

Hogeye Barn

Hogeye Barn

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