Biff Meets Sally's Father

The awkward meeting of the girlfriends father.

Click Comic to make it Bigger.

Hatch Street Holiday Sale

I will show work in New Bedford at The Hatch Street Holiday Sale for the fifth year in a row tomorrow.
I enjoy being a part of The New Bedford Art Scene, and hope to continue and foster this cool connection I have.

The show starts on Friday November 27th and runs through Sunday November 28th, 2010.

Commonwealth Ave in Springtime

Oil on panel, 9" x 12", 2010, SOLD

This piece was actually begun on Easter morning, 2010. I was getting ready to leave the studio for the cape since Boston was certainly closed for business that beautiful Sunday morning, (also - luckily - I was heading down to be with my family).

But when I got outside the weather and the city were so nice I couldn't leave right away. (I find I often have a hard time leaving Boston - 'cause it's so wonderful).

So I turned around, hiked up the three easy flights of stairs to Sean Boyce Studios, grabbed my paintbox, ran down to Commonwealth Ave, and started having at it.

 While I was painting, I noticed a guy taking pictures in the distance. He was also obviously spell bound by that beautiful spring morning amidst the blooming dogwood trees, fresh April air, and stately townhouses.

I recognized the photographer as Charlie Wang, a contemporary of mine in the Boston Art Scene. Mr. Wang has been selling prints of his Boston theme watercolor and oil paintings on the corner of Dartmouth Street and Newbury for about ten years now. He stopped and we talked for a few minutes then he continued photographing on his way.

A few weeks later Mr. Wang said,

        "Come here Sean, I have something to show you"

He rifled through a stack of his prints and pulled out a beautiful Spring scene of Commonwealth Avenue - the same I had painted. as my eyes greedily ate up the painting I noticed a lone figure in the left foreground. It was a painter, set up at his easel working - it was me!

I was so honored to be included in Charlie's canon that I had to of course support the arts and buy the print.

So if you want to crack Charlie up and support my imminent meteoric rise to stardom go up to him and ask for the Commonwealth Avenue Spring scene with Sean Boyce at the easel in it!! 

Public Garden with Duck Statues

Oil on canvas, 11" x 14", 2010, SOLD
Well I finally caved and painted the duck statues. I believe my integrity can withstand the risk. I did marvel to the book as a child (and am still quite impressed with it). Also I hope I got an angle that hasn't been done to death (or done). I let the rising slope of Boston Common shine in the background and sprinkled it with shimmering peppermint stick - like buildings. (everyone sees Boston that way - right?).

Chalk this up to the influence from the very tenacious street artists Charlie Wang and Fei Yung among many other luminary artistic figures from Boston.'

"Looking Down on Newbury"

Oil on canvas, 2010, 24" x 36" SOLD This piece was started when the restaurant across from my studio was called Bouchee - and they had a mean flourless chocolate cake. In the middle right section of the main building you can see a blue obelisk, that used to be the sign. The space is now Papa Razzi. On the left you can see Tricycle Louie - a Newbury Street Character known for his pedaling and vocal signaling up and down the busy sidewalks. There are three figures seated at the table that were inspired by dramatis personae from "In The Night Cafe" by Vincent Van Gogh. The figure in the middle of the dining area who is slumped over the table in utter defeat - although not altogether an uncommon sight on Newbury Street (unfortunately) - wouldn't last long in an actual outdoor dining establishment before being escorted out. The couple at the table right behind this lamentable gentleman who are obviously feeling rather amorous towards one another also first appeared in all their lustful glory in Van Gogh's unspeakably beautiful masterpiece.

Biff The Cyberpunk

Click on the comic to see it better

Concept and Reaction Rap

Twin Shogun lays the beat, Sean Boyce Busts the Rhyme.

"Downtown with Whaling Museum"

Oil on Canvas, 24" x 36", 2010 

This piece was created specifically for my exhibit entitled "Atlantic Awe" which is on display at 88 Hatch Street in New Bedford, MA. For five years now I've been participating in the Hatch Street Holiday Sale. 

15 Years ago I was in an art gallery in Hyannis called Artistic Appetites. On view were some paintings of New Bedford that really struck me. I wish that I had learned the name of the artist, I have researched it online a bit but turned up nothing yet. The works were so beautiful. There was the red hues of the lonely factory buildings, the empty streets, the abandoned industrial structures and unused railroad tracks which expressed (almost over-dramatically) but very poignantly the rise and fall of what was once one of the wealthiest cities in the country. These paintings appealed to me on many levels. There was the immediate reaction I had their nuance and content, but next came the catalysis of memory. Walking through the cobblestone streets with my parents as a young boy, I felt as though this particular place had remained untouched somehow by time. Apart from the visceral, violent, and mythical appeal of the compartments I'd found in the halls of The Whaling Museum, I recall the strange nautical articles that confronted me in the stores downtown. There was a huge brass sword hung on the wall in one of the shops that I became obsessed with. It embodied the myths of Lewis Carroll's Vorpal Sword from "The Jabberwocky", as well as the tale of King Arthur's sword in the stone.  I resolved that one day I should have that weapon.

    This has yet come to pass although I do have a small collection of pretty cool other swords.

    I have been back to New Bedford many times since viewing those paintings in an attempt to capture a bit of that magic that I once endured through the art. I have painted on the side of Route 195 West the old antique store which is now gone.

 "Coggeshall Street"

Oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 2008

This scene is one I've wanted to paint since I was a little kid. New Bedford has always been a fascinating place for me with it's nautical history, ethnic diversity, and working class culture. It always seemed to me a place of adventure and danger as well. The scene depicted here to me is an iconic New Bedford shot with the McDonald's tower I've driven by so many times and the giant worn out factory building in the foreground (which has since been torn down). When I set out to paint it I walked around the area for a while trying to figure out how to get the shot without setting up my easle right next to 195 because I didn't want to look like a psycho. But I wound up having to do just that. Luckily, there were no strange incidents other than a painter standing practically in the commuter traffic amid the highway detrius for a few hours.

The above featured painting isn't included in this year's Hatch Street Holiday Sale because I was too busy to travel to Woods Hole to retrieve it from my Pie in the Sky exhibit.

Instead I chose these seven paintings to commemorate the awe (and that's the full, actual proper use of a very beat up word) I feel when I'm in proximity of The Atlantic Ocean

"Atlantic Awe"

"Atlantic Awe"

"Atlantic Awe", seven Sean Boyce paintings at the "Hatch Street Studios Holiday Sale", 88 Hatch Street, New Bedford, MA, 02745 November 26, 27, +28 http://ow.ly/3b0Nf find out more at http://hatchstreetstudios.com/events.html

The Itinerant Nature of "Concept and Reaction"

Kemore Square, Harvard Square, Brighton Center, Newbury Street, look out Boston we're gonna paint you!

One of my coolest goals in conjunction with having a studio in Boston was to be able to foray out on my bicycle and create oil paintings all over the city. Bicycling is important because hauling my car around town is difficult, costly, and in many cases, very time sensitive (two hours to be specific). Public transportation is great but, when you're done, try bringing a wet oil painting on a crowded Orange Line Train. Commuters don't appreciate these brightly colored spots on their clothes that only can be removed (if you're lucky) with turpentine.

This video clip (starts) to pontificate about the peripatetic nature of the production phase of the upcoming painting exhibit in Boston entitled "Concept and Reaction" in that Marc and myself are bicycle nomads in the city creating the body of work.


Unfortunately the video was interrupted by the inevitable flow of commerce inherent in any artistic activity commensurate with sophisticated marketing techniques and disciplined, inspired content.

Concept and Reaction Blurb #6

Marc Morin and myself have been bicycling to different Boston locations all week hammering out oil studies in preparation for "Concept and Reaction" to be exhibited at Sean Boyce Studios, 162 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 from December 3 - 31, 2010. Each artist will exhibit 10 paintings painted concurrently, all in a format of 11" x 14".

"Concept and Reaction" Press Release

Boston Landmarks Seen Anew in "Concept and Reaction"

BOSTON, Mass., November 8, 2010 -- Boston art icon Sean Boyce and emerging artist Marc Morin join talent to showcase their wildly dueling interpretations of Boston landmarks in their new show, "Concept and Reaction." 

The works are created en pleine aire in 10 different locations in and around Boston, including Kenmore Square, Brighton Center and Boston Common. The series of paintings will be displayed at the opening in pairs, meant to highlight the stark differences in approach and expression in the works. The show will feature the series of 20 urban scenes in oil paint on 11” x 14” canvas.

The inherent clash of their perspectives drove the artists together. Boyce, a self-taught artist and Newbury Street studio owner flexes his years of commercial sensibility against Morin, a classically trained graduate of the Art Institute of Boston. “Where Morin’s expressions tend to be somber, stark and foreboding, my efforts stride towards light, almost candy-coated depictions of life,” says Boyce.

At first, the idea of working together wasn’t a natural fit for either artist. “When we first saw each other’s art, we wondered how this could even work – what with the age difference, the schooling difference. But, it’s a relationship that we both get something from,” Morin explains.

The artists find energy in the project itself. “I am happy to hang back and get residual knowledge [from Morin], and I hope, humbly, that he will have something to learn from me as well,” says Bryce. 

“Concept and Reaction” will take place at The Sean Boyce Studios located at 162 Newbury Street, Floor 4, in Boston. The opening reception is Saturday, December 4, 2010, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday 12 - 5:30 p.m., Sunday 12 - 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. 

About the Artists

Sean Boyce, a self taught painter is known for his colorful renditions of both rural and urban landscapes in Massachusetts and surrounding areas. While many of these scenes are realistically rendered, they teeter on the line of abstraction due largely to his arbitrary use of color. While Sean bends color choices to his whim, his innate ability to create evocative color and his intuitive marks allow for a magnificent contrast between the well-rendered forms and his unexpected palette. This effect is often derived from the rhythm and emotion he is immersed in while painting en plein aire. The feeling translates through each of his pieces as his unique perception of the world. For more information, please see:http://www.seanboycestudios.com/


Marc Morin, a graduate of the Art Institute of Boston, studied abroad at the Lorenzo de’Medici School in Florence, Italy. He attributes a great amount of influence on his perspective and approach to his studies there; Morin connected with the Italian landscape and city in terms of emotion and romanticism and then carried these impressions to the canvas. Since then, his solo and group shows in Boston, Springfield and Central Massachusetts draw steady interest. Morin’s paintings are unforgettable, monumental environments painted in dramatic light with colors and texture often conveying a somber mood. He welcomes the viewer into his vignettes by confronting them with a pull of emotion, followed by a play on the idea of what is hidden and unhidden about our origin. In response to this, Morin calls his body of work “a landscape of the mind.” For more information, please see: http://www.marcmorinpainter.com/ 

Contact:
Sean Boyce, Director
Sean Boyce Studios
(508) 524-2894
www.seanboycestudios.com

Press Release by:
Kerri McCarthy
Kerri.fine.art@gmail.com

Concept and Reaction, Blurb #5

In this video I discuss the semantics behind the title of "Concept and Reaction"

Boston Skyline with Guy Feeding Birds

Oil on canvas, 18" x 24", 2010, $2,500.00.

This is the first painting I worked on en plein aire with Marc Morin. We ran into each other at the reception for 

Tom Grady: Domestic Bliss

and:

Sean Farrell: The Influence of Italy
October 14- November 12.

At The Copley Society on Newbury Street in Boston.

We got to talking about painting and decided to meet on Memorial Drive the next morning @ 8:00 am. 

I was a bit late for the meeting but we set up and hammered out some nice  oil studies.

During production I was taken aback by the stark differences in Marc's and my own approach to portraying the same subject.

I remarked that his rendition of The Charles River looked like the viewer had been gifted with the ability to detect visually all of the oil that was presently hidden within the velveteen folds of water before them.

There was a brutal, almost apocalyptic quality to it.

Later he brought the same piece up to my studio after he had finished it at his place and again, I was bowled over by the distinct brooding sense of loneliness he had expressed in his, especially with reference to the empty, black silhouette of a park bench so conspicuously placed in the foreground.

It reminded me also of the importance Marc had placed on the park bench when choosing his subject, therefore the strategies that had gone into the making of this piece for him.

I laughed a bit at how differently I had engineered my image. I feel like I like to just marvel at how amazing something looks and then let that be interpreted through me somehow. I often joke that,

       "I just let Boston paint the picture for me". But Marc appears to have very specific goals for the outcome of his piece. http://seanboycestudios.com

Concept and Reaction, Blurb #5

Further description about the dichotomy between Marc's painting style and my own.

This is getting close to the essence (as far as verbal interpretation of the show)

Concept and Reaction: Twenty Oil Paintings

In this video I further describe the upcoming Boston Art Exhibit entitled "Concept and Reaction", Paintings by Marc Morin and Sean Boyce. Each video post will bring you closer to knowing about the themes and ideas behind the exhibit which will be on view at Sean Boyce Studios Dec 3 - 31


Video Blurb

Spike in Art Sales at Sean Boyce Studios

Demand is rising in the City of Boston for original Sean Boyce oil paintings as three were sold this weekend.

From top to bottom: "Boston in Autumn with Skateboarder", oil on canvas, 9" x 12", 2010
                                 "The Sirens of Sippewisett", oil on canvas, 18" x 24", 2010
                                 "Dawn Skyline", oil on canvas, 8" x 16", 2008.

Perhaps the economy is coming back or my business plan is so crazy it just might work.

Either way this is an exciting time over at Sean Boyce Studios at 162 Newbury Street in Boston, MA.

Don't worry there are still some original oils left and I'm working on more all the time plus my ubiquitous commission work.

Plus with the upcoming show there will be new smaller format oils of local urban scenes available. (11" x 14")

Sean Boyce Studios

Nestled in the heart of The Boston Gallery District, high above the hubbub of Newbury Street, is this oasis of creativity and fun.
Please visit
Sean Boyce Studios
162 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
open Thursday through Saturday 12:00 - 5:30
and Sunday 12 - 5
or by appointment
(508) 524-2894
http://seanboycestudios.com

sean@seanboycestudios.com

"Brighton Center in the Rain" Oil on canvas, 11" x 14", 2010

Marc Morin and myself were painting in the rain Thursday morning (November 4) in Brighton Center. It was pretty cool. I really wanted to be inside this really neat cafe I was next to on Washington Street. It's got a great sign picture of bacon and eggs that made me wish I wasn't soaking wet, cold, and covered in oil paint. But it was worth the effort. It gave me renewed vigor to look across the street and see a fellow painter working in the same imperfect conditions. The power of the elements gnawing at my phalanges and materials lent urgency to the painting process that I think has come through in the picture. For more information about the upcoming exhibit go to "Concept and Reaction" (and click on the little tiny "i" for info.

Sean Boyce in New York City

I was lucky enough to spend a few days in the big apple. I checked out The Guggenheim. And I pounded the pavement down in Chelsea a bit. The picture shows me a little jagged, stumbling out of my Art Wagon on Eighth Avenue and 34th Street after a bumpy five hour drive down 95. I've made a few forays into New York, and soon will have high quality representation down there (I'll always be a Boston artist though).

"Concept and Reaction"

Young Boston Painter Marc Morin and myself are bringing an art exhibit to the public. It will be on display at Sean Boyce Studios, 162 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 from December 3 - 31, 2010.
"Concept and Reaction" is a contradictory series of urban pictures created en plein aire in Metro Boston within parameters, some of which are: oil on canvas, and 11" x 14".
"Concept" refers more to Marc's interpretations, although any artist must "react" somewhat to stimuli.

"Reaction" describes Sean's process somewhat, however all art must be "conceived of" to a degree.