Lauren Powell is delighted to present The Pursuit of Love by the exquisite JD Raenbeau - a series of enchanting, sentimental yet sincere, semi-self-portraiture scenes of the fusion of man, nature, love, and lust on view July 2, 2021 - July 22, 2021. While traditionally working at a larger scale in deeply detailed and hyper realistic colored pencil drawings, this new body of work is titled ‘The Pursuit of Love’ in reference to both formal and conceptual qualities of Jean Honoré Fragonard’s florid ‘Progress of Love’ paintings. Inspired by the 18th century Rococo paintings of lovers in nature, Raenbeau aims to pay tribute to the celebration and pursuit of love while reframing love and sex as nature itself.
Bursting with lush and opulent flora and fauna, the figures sprinkled within feel both hidden and seen as limbs, flowers, genitals, and branches morph into and out of each other. An avid gardener himself, Raenbeau knows first hand the magical results of nurturing and tending to nature - using his own garden created with his partner at their Long Island home as infinite inspiration and the setting for these dramatizations of their love for both each other and the fruits of their labor. Relationships (along with nature on this earth), are evolving and ever changing, and you can feel this through his broad, carefree marks emphasized with vibrant, luscious colors. The images feel playful and free, much like the intimacy portrayed by the partners in each scene, and the way he paints light is mind blowing. Together, we are more than just the sum of our parts, and perhaps nature is the secret ingredient that keeps our human relationships rewarding us with new growth every spring.
In Raenbeau’s new larger oil paintings, The Lover’s Tryst and The Lover Crowned, he is figuratively reframing himself in the context of art history (as it was only straight male/female relationships depicted by Fragonard and other Rococo artists) and also quite literally framing he and his partner with art historical imagery. Fragonard's Blind Man’s Bluff from 1750 and Love the Sentinel from 1773 are framing the artist and his lover, but painted over with a new lens on loving relationships in 2021.
JD Raenbeau The Lover’s Tryst, Fragonard Blind Man's Bluff, JD Raenbeau The Lover Crowned, Fragonard Love the Sentinel
Where Fragonard’s work focused on the rites and theatre of formal courtship, Raenbeau’s interpretation of sentimental lovers in nature is about the earthly connection we have with each other. Foliage growing into us and bursting out of us represents connection, literal and spiritual. A dabbled-lit limb naturally bleeds into a flower, uniting them in form and purpose. The artist allows the material to drip, fuse, and seep; relinquishing some control to create unexpected combinations and interplay between his subjects. Color is heightened for heat and focus; sparkle is embellished to emphasize magic; broad, carefree marks host a dance between the subjects and materials. Thankfully, so much has changed since this original series was painted over 250 years ago, but love and nature remain constant.
