
Rod Penner
Paintings, 19872022
Rod Penner(Artist)
The Artist Book Foundation (Publisher)
Published on 16. February 2023
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-1-7329864-4-2 (ISBN)
Description
Rod Penner infuses his photorealistic paintings of the American southwest with a cinematic quality in the first major monograph on this contemporary realist artist.
The abandoned and forgotten landscapes of rural southwestern towns are the favored subjects of Rod Penner's paintings. His deft use of contrasts in his images-despondency and hope, isolation and nostalgia-evokes memories of The Last Picture Show and elicits complex responses from viewers. "I'm interested in the look of things and the quality of being there," he says. "A moment that is completely frozen with all the variety of textures; rust on poles, crumbling asphalt, light hitting the grass."
Penner's works are based on his photographs, digital video stills, and his experience of the rural landscapes of Texas and New Mexico. He depicts desolate, often deserted locations, the character of old houses and abandoned buildings, weather, and unique geography. His chosen scenes are infused with a cinematic quality that is the result of the exquisite light that he captures with his meticulous process. "The finished paintings should evoke contrasting responses of melancholy and warmth, desolation and serenity," he says.
Penner's hyperrealistic technique meticulously records both the iconic imagery and the beauty in the ashes of these once-prosperous streets and nighborhoods that still endure. The incredible poignant scenes evoke a universalism, a collective experience seen through the lens of Americana. "You won't find any hidden or overt socio-political meaning in my work and at the same time I hope that by utilizing what I find in the American landscape I'm able to connect to viewers on a deeper psychological level."
The abandoned and forgotten landscapes of rural southwestern towns are the favored subjects of Rod Penner's paintings. His deft use of contrasts in his images-despondency and hope, isolation and nostalgia-evokes memories of The Last Picture Show and elicits complex responses from viewers. "I'm interested in the look of things and the quality of being there," he says. "A moment that is completely frozen with all the variety of textures; rust on poles, crumbling asphalt, light hitting the grass."
Penner's works are based on his photographs, digital video stills, and his experience of the rural landscapes of Texas and New Mexico. He depicts desolate, often deserted locations, the character of old houses and abandoned buildings, weather, and unique geography. His chosen scenes are infused with a cinematic quality that is the result of the exquisite light that he captures with his meticulous process. "The finished paintings should evoke contrasting responses of melancholy and warmth, desolation and serenity," he says.
Penner's hyperrealistic technique meticulously records both the iconic imagery and the beauty in the ashes of these once-prosperous streets and nighborhoods that still endure. The incredible poignant scenes evoke a universalism, a collective experience seen through the lens of Americana. "You won't find any hidden or overt socio-political meaning in my work and at the same time I hope that by utilizing what I find in the American landscape I'm able to connect to viewers on a deeper psychological level."
Reviews / Votes
"Canadian-born, Texas-based artist Rod Penner is recognized for his realist acrylic-on-canvas paintings that portray often overlooked or abandoned scenes in rural Texas. Devoid of human figuration and rendered with extreme attention to architectural and landscape detail, the photo-informed compositions not only convey a sense of meditative contemplativeness but also the artist's meticulous technical skill."-Artnet Gallery Network, March 8, 2023
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
268 color plates, 10 black and white
Dimensions
Height: 310 mm
Width: 286 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
1898 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-7329864-4-2 (9781732986442)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2023
The Artist Book Foundation
€38.99
Available for download
Persons
David Anfam was a curator, writer, and authority on modern American art. He was the senior consulting curator at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, and the director of its Research Center. His publications include Abstract Expressionism (1990), the catalogue raisonne Mark Rothko: Works on Canvas (1998), and studies on Anish Kapoor, Edward Kienholz, and Wayne Thiebaud.
Terrie Sultan is an independent curator, cultural consultant, and Principal Museum Strategist for Art Museum Strategies at Hudson Ferris, a boutique consulting firm based in New York City. She is the former director of the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, as well as The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston in Texas.
Louis Meisel is an American author, art collector, and dealer, as well as a proponent of the Photorealist art movement. He has contributed to several volumes documenting the genre, numerous monographs, and he continues to organize international museum exhibitions for leading Photorealist art.
Terrie Sultan is an independent curator, cultural consultant, and Principal Museum Strategist for Art Museum Strategies at Hudson Ferris, a boutique consulting firm based in New York City. She is the former director of the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, as well as The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston in Texas.
Louis Meisel is an American author, art collector, and dealer, as well as a proponent of the Photorealist art movement. He has contributed to several volumes documenting the genre, numerous monographs, and he continues to organize international museum exhibitions for leading Photorealist art.
Content
Artist's Statement
Rod Penner
Foreword
Louis K. Meisel
Main Street Mystery
David Anfam
Rod Penner: The Narrative of No Narrative
Terrie Sultan
Plates
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Exhibitions
Awards and Collections
Bibliography
Index
Photography Credits
Rod Penner
Foreword
Louis K. Meisel
Main Street Mystery
David Anfam
Rod Penner: The Narrative of No Narrative
Terrie Sultan
Plates
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Exhibitions
Awards and Collections
Bibliography
Index
Photography Credits