Artist Series Post #10: Emily Greene Liddle

Emily Greene Liddle

Hello again Urban Decay readers! Allow me to introduce the first female artist I will discuss as a featured artist in Urban Decay II this June: Emily Green Liddle.

I first saw Emily's artwork at the Art Whino G40 Exhibit in Washington DC last year. The exhibit itself though full of amazing art, wasn't as well put together as I was expecting, but Emily's work really stood out to me and I knew I wanted to have her work displayed at the Workhouse as soon as I could.

Here is a little info and background:
Emily Greene Liddle was born and raised just outside of Baltimore, MD before moving to Washington, DC in 1999 to attend college. She graduated cum laude from the Catholic University of America in 2004 with a dual bachelors degree in Fine Arts and Art Education. Emily currently lives, teaches, and paints in the DC metro area. Working mainly with oil on canvas, Liddle uses classical academic technique to portray modern pop imagery. While her paintings initially appear light and playful, her subject matter plays
on deeper themes of contrast and contradiction in form, function, and perception in modern Pop culture.



Security Blanket
2009
oil on canvas
48 x 36



Bear Trap
2009
oil on canvas
40 x 30



Hooked
2008
oil on canvas
24 x 12



Pincushion II
2009
oil on canvas
36 x 48"

Murmur DC writes:  Emily Greene Liddle is an extraordinary talent within the DC area that is more than a little known painter. She’s actually a blossoming artist that is becoming well recognized for her work. The subject matter has a pop art feel, and is able to bring into perspective the contracting patterns that play into our culture. Her Strange Fruits series portrays common fruits and innocent objects into comprising situations. Although her subjects appear playful at first glance, there is a deeper meaning behind them that portrays the contrast we can all find value in.

Smoke Signal
2009
oil on canvas
40 x 30

Unfinished Business
2009
oil on canvas
36 x 36"



"Virtue" 2007
oil on canvas
24 x 36

Recently Emily has Participated in DC's new Art-In-Hand Project: The Washington DC Project is a unique deck of playing cards showcasing the wide range of extraordinary artistic talent found in the Washington area. Each of the 54 cards in our deck (52 playing cards plus 2 jokers) will be transformed into a one-of-a-kind work of art by 54 local artists who will create one card each in their own distinct style.


In a recent informative yet easy to read interview from "The Fifteen Before Fifteen" (a small company founded by artists in Washington DC. whose primary service is to provide a website hosting Journal 15 online and the Artist Database. Their primary goal is providing local artists an outlet for greater exposure at no cost to them) Emily was given a great chance to talk about her work, her inspiration and much more:

"It's true -- everything is a contradiction... It's torture." These are Emily Greene Liddle's words. They were offered about two-thirds of a way through a lengthy interview which I thoroughly enjoyed. Her words need to be slightly explained and they will be. Before we begin I want to tell you that Emily has a great laugh. Now I promised Emily that some information would stay off the record, but I don't think she'd mind if I told you she has a wicked sense of humor that tends towards to be a bit dark at times -- in a good way. When we first met I was immediately impressed with her sarcasm, not mean-ness, just pure wit. She is the first artist to bring out Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies mid-interview. She is also the first to bring out two beers and then finish one quicker than I do. Maybe that should have stayed off the record. I'm going to fight to leave it in. You'll see why at the end. It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you Emily Greene Liddle.







Emily Greene Liddle is incapable of breaking her training. Oh yes, she's trained. She is also exceptionally professional about her work and her methods, and yet still able to be silly once in a while. She went to Catholic University specifically to study art. She knew she was an artist from a very young age. Says she, "I feel really lucky in that sense because most people go through their entire lives and never really know for sure what they're meant to do. I've always felt like I was going to be an artist. Growing up it just kind of got stronger." She went to school to find out what she was interested in and to strengthen her voice. She found that she liked working with oils because they're "buttery, soft, and gushy," but also because they're a necessity. "Acrylics dry to fast," she says. Her paintings are photo-realistic with subject matter not traditionally found in photo-realism. She abhors painting landscapes -- they do nothing for her. What she enjoys doing is painting large pieces, technically done, with a lot of research behind them. The subject matter of these paintings? Well here's where we begin to glimpse the contradiction that Emily is so fond of.


Read the full article here: http://www.thefifteenbeforefifteen.com/content/2009-05-13_01.asp


Bed of Nails
2009
oil on canvas
40 x 30

You can check out all of Emily's work, old and new, by popping over to her website here: http://www.emilygreeneliddle.com/index.html  
But don't forget to see it first hand, live, and in person by coming to Urban Decay II this June at the Workhouse Art Center. See you there!