Photo 1 Paul Wong, 2 courtesy of artist.
3 Diptychs
Photography
44” x 74”
From 2002-2004 the On Main Gallery storefront was Lukacs’ drawing studio, the diptychs were commissioned by On Main Gallery and created for the three windows in 2008. This stunning set of enlarged Polaroid photographs was produced in a limited edition to coincide with the exhibition Attila Richard Lukacs / Polaroids / Michael Morris at Presentation House Gallery in 2008. Together these two events were the first public showings culled from the extraordinary collection of thousands of Polaroid’s created by ARL. The diptychs are available to purchase from On Main Gallery.
Curator: Paul Wong
Bio
In 1985, Lukacs graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. He moved to Berlin in 1986, working at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin. In 1996, he relocated to New York City in order to be closer to the center of American art.
Although Lukacs is best known for paintings that depict exaggerated masculine figures, such as gay skinheads and military cadets (Military Series True North), he has also created a collection of paintings of flowers (Flowers) and trees (Arbor Vitae). His brutally explicit references to homoerotic sexuality often shocked galleries and the public. His paintings frequently reference the historical compositions and themes of David and Caravaggio as well as the compositional devices of the miniature painters and illustrators of India (Of Monkeys and Men) and the Middle East. A more recent series of paintings depict conifer trees, dramatically painted in tar on a silver leaf field. The artist now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.