Los Angeles portrait artist Rikki Niehaus will debut work at this spring’s Brewery Artwalk that takes the conventional genre to an unconventional place, literally: the country’s biggest IKEA.
When IKEA opened its 22-acre store in Burbank in February, Niehaus was inspired by the unique mashup of consumerism, comfort and crowds that combine in the retail space, which has come to replace the idea of a public square in her mind. She took photos of her model in classic portrait poses throughout the 50 room settings, and used those photos as the basis for her large-scale oil paintings.
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In one piece she chose a chair as an homage to Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ classic work “Madame Moitessier,” completed in 1856.
“My new work combines aspects of traditional portraiture with this space, which doesn’t immediately lend itself to that,” Niehaus said. “I feel IKEA has become a public space. People already spend a lot of time in retail spaces, but IKEA transcends even that. We eat there. Children play there. And, I buy a lot of my furniture there.”
The cavernous nature of the store lends a science fiction quality to the art, and gives it the feel of landscapes as much as portraits. She calls the new series “Swedish Landscapes.”
Although she prefers working with traditional media and subjects, Niehaus finds inspiration in many genres, including medieval and Renaissance art, comics, Golden Age illustration, abstract expressionism and conceptual art. Her strongest influences are the German and British painters of the early to mid-20th century.
Niehaus lives and works at the Brewery, the largest artist complex in the U.S. The Brewery Artwalk will be held 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30. The twice-a-year free event allows the artists of to open their studio doors to the public.
Niehaus said her model, filmmaker and fellow Brewery resident, Ryan Timmerick, added sensitivity and depth to the portraits with his performance in her images. She noted, though, that she tried to be as unobtrusive as possible while taking the photos at IKEA.
“I don’t want to intrude on the shoppers,” she said. “I want to respect their privacy.”
Source: designfaves.com