Large Abstract Illusionist Painting by Joe Doyle

Description

This painting with added elements is an excellent example of Joe Doyle’s abstract illusionist art. It is composed of acrylic … more This painting with added elements is an excellent example of Joe Doyle’s abstract illusionist art. It is composed of acrylic on shaped canvas with fabric elements added. It measures 36 x 43 inches. Each edge has been painted except for the left edge which has a frame. The right edge has been shaped. The black elements of the tent-like structure are added fabric. The work is signed, numbered and dated on the reverse. As well it bears a label from Harcourts Gallery, a gallery in San Francisco during the 1980s and 1990s. The work is in very good condition with minimal wear to the edges.

Joe Doyle (1941-2020) established himself as a painter during the movement toward new abstraction in San Francisco in the mid-seventies. Stylistically his work evolved from photo-realist renderings of aircraft which exaggerated differences in focus of background and foreground" By 1975 his imagery shifted to arrangements of flat, geometric forms and tubular squiggles in a trompe l'oeil manner that created the illusion of a multi-layered, three dimensional space. By the late 1970s Doyle, along with James Havard, Jack Reilly, George D. Green, and others, had attained national prominence working this style now referred to as Abstract Illusionism. Doyle and others were included in 'Reality of Illusion' a large touring exhibition of primarily American illusionist artists organized by the University of Southern California and The Denver Art Museum.

Doyle enrolled at San Francisco State College receiving his M.A. in 1971. From 1971 to 1975 he was a photorealist transferring images from photographs using airbrush techniques on canvas, occasionally adding political satire into the subject matter, as in "Ice House (1971).

Doyle was an instructor and co-chair of the Digital Arts Department at Berkeley City College. His most recent work delved into the realm of both 3-D realism and 3-D non-objective abstraction.

Here is an autobiographical excerpt from his former website:

"In the seventies and eighties I helped establish Abstract Illusionism, one of the earliest examples of Postmodernism, working with trompe l'oeil techniques and the history of abstraction from geometric to action painting. I explored the relationship between formal and illusory elements in painting, challenging the dominance of the flat picture plane, which was ‘de rigueur’ for the abstract expressionists.
During the nineties I dropped illusion from the equation and concentrated on formal abstraction. Focusing on (real) surface textures and process painting, I was concerned with the sensual experience of an elegantly painted surface at an intimate
scale.
Since 2000 I have been working with advanced computer generated imaging techniques, synthesizing my previous painting experience into a new medium that offers greater possibilities for image making and personal expression. As I attempt to define contemporary aesthetics, tromp l’oeil space has reentered my work as illusionary textures, 3D modeling, and perspective, although not as confrontational as in my previous abstract illusionist paintings. I have also appropriated those works of art from the past, which have formed a great deal of my personal memory in order to contextualize our contemporary experience."

Solo exhibitions
• Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2008
• Harcourt's Contemporary Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1991
• Kennedy Art Center, Holy Names College, Oakland, CA 1990
• "Joe Doyle New Work", Harcourts Contemporary, San Francisco, CA 1988
• Illinois Metropolitan Center, Chicago, IL 1986
• J. Rosenthal Fine Arts, Chicago, IL 1985
• Foster Goldstrom Gallery, Dallas, TX 1985
• Route 66 Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1984
• Foster Goldstrom Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA 1983
• Route 66 Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Foster Goldstrom Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA 1982
• O. K. Harris West, Scottsdale, AZ 1981
• Foster Goldstrom Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA Foster Goldstrom Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
• San Jose Museum of Fine Art, San Jose, CA 1979
• Nuage, Environment for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA 1977
Group exhibitions
• Oakland Symphony Showcase, Oakland CA 2010
• Thinking Big, Gualala Art Center, Gualala, CA 2009
• Printing on the Edge, Alameda Historical Museum, Alameda, CA 2009
• Art of Jingletown, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA 2006
• "Four from California," Yozo Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 1988
• "The Goldstrom Collection", Davenport Art Center, Davenport, Iowa (National tour) 1988
• Midwestern Museum of Art, Elkhorn, IN - 1981
• "The Controlled Gesture -Aspects of Bay Area Abstraction," 1980
• Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA 1980
• "George Irwin Collection,· Krannert Museum, IL 1980
• Selections from the Contemporary Art Collection of the Oakland Museum," Kaiser Center, Oakland, CA 1980
• "Reality of Illusion,· University of Southern California, Touring Show 1979
• Aesthetics of Graffiti," San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA 1978
• "Bay Area Artist, Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA 1977
• "The Annual," San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA 1977
• "Six East Bay Painters," Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA 1977
• "Art for Collecting and Giving,· San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA 1977
• San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA 1975
• "Options 73/30,· Contemporary Ar~ Center, Cincinnati, OH 1973
• "Arts and Industry," Brooks Hall, San Francisco, CA 1971 less