Aaron Smith, Chopsy, 2011 | Oil on panel, 28 x 24 inches. Courtesy Sloan Fine Art, New York.

Upon examining his work, one can only imagine that Los Angeles-based painter Aaron Smith is somewhat of a romantic. His thick, impastoed brushstrokes in oil, when combined with his nostalgic 19th-century era figures, deeply recall the gesture-heavy application of the Post-Impressionists imbued with a freshness (and palette) that is altogether contemporary.

A connoisseur of whiskers in his own right (he rocks a mean curly mustache), Smith fills his canvases with images of men belonging to another time. However, his approach to representation—which is simultaneously direct and abstracted—takes these characters from the past and fervently pulls them into the present, primarily through his use of color. Using a palette that could be culled from the Fauvists, Smith's otherwise brooding men are brightly colored, flipping ideas of masculinity on their pastel heads.

More beards, and pics from his solo show at Sloan Fine Art, after the jump!  —Evan J. Garza, Editor-at-Large

Right Smart, 2011 | Oil on panel, 60 x 60 inches. Courtesy Sloan Fine Art, New York.

Left Handed Likely, 2011 | Oil on panel, 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy Sloan Fine Art, New York.

Mooey, 2011 | Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches. Courtesy Sloan Fine Art, New York.


Aaron Smith: Coterie of the Wooly-Woofter will be on view at Sloan Fine Art, New York, through June 26.