Kathy Coe

Grand Budapest Hotel

2024

Direct observation excites me. It allows for close, quiet, and constant discovery. The subtle shifts that occur in natural changing light create living color harmonies and moments of...

Direct observation excites me. It allows for close, quiet, and constant discovery. The subtle shifts that occur in natural changing light create living color harmonies and moments of...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas of human habitation rather than landscapes that reference the natural world. But my subjects are certainly not all urban – some are suburban, some small towns and some are ruins, such as a faded sign and abandoned business bleaching in the desert sun as once populated areas return to their former empty silence. While I often treat older architectural forms, I want to make it clear these are not paintings about nostalgia – all are contemporary scenes, recently observed. Currently I've painted a number of pictures which seem neither urban nor rural but are set in that particular non-space that now covers so much of the landscape – the limbo of freeway exits and on-ramps and their attendant fast-food franchises. What I feel these mostly unpopulated places I choose to paint have in common is a potency, some kind of emotional charge that enables them to function as settings for a subjective fictional narrative. As the artist I choose and edit the scenes, setting the stage for viewers to bring their imaginations and private meanings to these places made special by my selection and attention." Notes: Urban, Rural, Movies, Theatre...

Direct observation excites me. It allows for close, quiet, and constant discovery. The subtle shifts that occur in natural changing light create living color harmonies and moments of...

'Deco Delight' depicts a San Francisco building facade with cool shadows cascading across an art deco building and golden light reflected in the window panes. The subtle and brillian...

'A Tribute to Adeline' depicts a historic San Francisco building with warm sunlight and shadows cascading across the facade of the building with inset window panes. The subtle and br...

'Xtraordinary' - depicts a San Francisco building with warm sunlight casting shadows that cascade across the facade of the green building with red inset window and trim. The piece i...

An original piece from the series "Abandoned rooms", oil on canvas. 70 X 50 cm, 2021. This series of paintings was inspired by the metaphysical landscapes of De Chirico. I have alway...