Lyndell Dean Wolff

07 Feb Lyndell Dean Wolff

Posted at 20:06h in Exhibitions, Past Exhibitions by Matt

February/March 2023

The patience and attention to detail that is inherent to Lyndell Dean Wolff’s photorealistic paintings parallels the more than four decades he spent as a journeyman craftsman and master woodworker. By allowing time away from each discipline he attained virtuosity in both. From his tiny, perfectly articulated replicas of LA River Cats (a series of industrial, spray-painted, feline-faced storm drain covers) to his painterly yet photo-perfect motorcycle portraits, there is an element of obsession to the work. It’s because Lyndell is a specialist, and he chooses his subjects with a technical fascination that mirrors the intense interest fans and hobbyists share. There is undeniable truth in a Wolff painting, because he’s not faking it.

In addition to Lyndell’s renown and ongoing oeuvre of biker culture paintings, there are an additional two bodies of work we’ve chosen to highlight in this presentation: his Wabi-Sabi and Cognitive Phenomenology series.

Wabi-sabi embodies the wisdom to be found in imperfections and the enduring beauty in flaws and decay. “A well-worn, stained and scared, maintained and serviced, old tool is of far greater worth than a new unused one”. In this instance, the imperfectly beautiful subjects are motorcycles –in whole and in part.

Cognitive Phenomenology can be defined as the experience that is associated with cognitive activities, such as thinking, reasoning, and understanding. Self-awareness of one’s physical existence and relationship to time and place. Here Lyndell is addressing the philosophical implications of consciousness using contemporary urban landscapes with reflective surfaces as a metaphor; illustrating intentional self-knowledge in contradiction to a perceived awareness of the external world. His musings are contrasted with the fractured attention our digital connections create and the dynamic equilibrium of memory and reality exchange. As such this will be a two-month virtual exhibition, but purchases will ship throughout as we use the online platform to maintain exhibition uniformity.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Lyndell Dean Wolff is a Southern California native raised in the East Los Angeles area of the San Gabriel Valley. While working as a full-time woodcarver and studying painting at Cal State Long Beach, Wolff won an international pipe-carving competition that included an exhibition in Europe and initiation into a centuries-old pipe carving fraternity “La Confrerie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude.” After returning from France he continued working as a professional woodcarver and began an apprenticeship with a master woodworker. Within a few years the two started their own business designing prototypes, furniture, and art pieces –specializing in fine, hardwood, intricate joinery and carvings. They also restored and fabricated many Art Nouveau and Craftsman style furniture and architectural details. When his mentor-partner passed away, Lyndell shut the doors on their shop and went into full-time feature-film work.

After a particularly grueling year in the later ‘90s Wolff took some time off film work to accept a woodcarving commission from a local Catholic Parish (to design and create furniture, an altar, and statuary), and to start painting again. The ensuing years have been a patchwork of motion picture work and personal projects. In late 2016, encouraged by the response to his paintings, Lyndell began to exhibit. After 59+ film credits and over 35 years in the motion picture industry as a member of IATSE Local 44, he is now able to commit full-time to his art practice.

Here’s a work-in-progress time lapse video:

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