Painters Guild

Clark Filio, Dan Schien, Jesse Morsberger, Kyle Staver, Lauren Whearty, Lauryn Welch, Brandon Johnson, Lucia Love, Carlo D'Anselmi, Kesha Prioleau-Martin, Ray Hwang, Riley Bingham, Todd Bienvenu, Tsai-Ling Tseng, Paige Turner-Uribe, Noelle Velez, Matt Blackwell, Nick Benfey, Elmi Mata

11 Newel is pleased to present Painters Guild, a group exhibition curated by Jesse Morsberger and Brandon Elijah.

Painters Guild is an exhibition that celebrates the joys of painting and pays homage to archetypes of adventure that have occurred throughout history. Chosen for their shared enthusiasm and dedication to painting as much as a reverence for adventure and mythology, this cohort of artists each reimagines what subject matter can be used in painting. By incorporating references from folklore, video games, and tabletop roleplaying experiences into direct painting using traditional techniques, these artists trace a parallel 2D lineage that has grown up alongside contemporary painting.

Early modern painters and other artisans joined guilds that not only trained them in the techniques and conventions of their respective mediums but also gave them reliable work within the hierarchy of a studio. Today, where guilds are no longer a dominant economic model for the arts, people who grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons or World of Warcraft have a different understanding of what a guild is: an anachronism that signifies any type of imaginary collective of characters, within a world of limitless possibilities. An interesting challenge arises when one considers what it might look like to conflate the historical painters guild with the imaginary guild of fantasy role-playing games.

Each painting in this show functions as a portal into distinct worlds full of life and intrigue. Through these colorful works, each member of the Painters Guild invites you to experience a palpable sense of discovery and adventure.