Jersey City will always have a special place in painter Valeri Larko?s life. While she only spent about three years of her life in Chilltown, it was here that she found her artistic purpose.
A northern New Jersey native, Larko began painting en plein air as a bit of a hobby while studying figure painting at the duCret School of Art in Plainfield and later, the Art Students League in New York City. Growing up and living in towns like Lake Parsippany and Summit, Larko was no stranger to the traditional landscape setting.
After graduating from art school in the late 80?s, however, she moved to Jersey City and discovered that finding a subject for her figurative work wasn?t always as easy as it was in school.
?I thought, ?The boyfriend only wants to pose so much ? what am I going to do?? Then I started looking around Jersey City and thought, ?I?ve always liked painting landscapes outside; let me explore where I am living!?? says Larko.
She started out working from Leonard Gordon Park ? or as locals call it, Mosquito Park. Overlooking several industrial buildings near the Pulaski Skyway, Larko was immediately interested. Eventually, looking from a distance wasn?t enough and she began driving into the industrial areas. ?I started doing more close-ups of things,? says the oil painter. ?I found the sculptural qualities, forms and shapes of the tanks and stuff fascinating. And the mystery! What do these things do??
Over the next two decades, Larko would complete different series inspired by various locations around New Jersey, including several places in Hudson County. Tonight, a mini survey of her work will open at the Majestic Theater Condominiums in Downtown Jersey City. The title, ?Tanks, Trash and Graffiti,? gives art lovers a pretty good idea of what they?ll find on the walls of the condominium lobby.
?If I had not lived in Jersey City at that pivotal point when I was done with art school and trying to figure out who I was as an artist, I might have gone in a completely different direction,? says Larko. ?Jersey City was definitely an important part of my development. Twenty years later, I?m still exploring the same territory in different ways.?
Even after marrying and moving to New Rochelle, N.Y., Larko has continued finding places to paint. One of her favorite places right now is the Ferris Stahl-Meyer Packing Corp. building in Bronx (pictured in one of her paintings, above).
?It?s the painting I call, ?Loading Dock in Bronx.? You can see why I call it that; the whole name is a mouthful,? she says with a laugh. ?I?ve been doing several paintings of this on all sides of the building because it?s so fascinating. The owner came up to me one day and said he sold the building, is packing up his company and moving to Miami.
?He said for the last ten years, he had been allowing and encouraging graffiti artists to use the building as a canvas. He was a very interesting guy, a bit of a visionary. And every time I?m painting there I see people take photographs there or rap in front and use it as a backdrop, I?ve seen models doing photo shoots and skateboarders ? it?s a mecca of creative energy. It?s all because of this one guy?s vision. The energy there! I wish I could give you this experience, but all you get is my painting,? she says.
Painting on the scene, Larko says, has been the most rewarding part of her quest to explore urban settings. In the two to three months she spends painting each place, she learns about the area and tells its stories through the minute details of her pieces.
?I like to be in the environment. I find out stories about the area and see things I wouldn?t have seen otherwise. I get graffiti artists who come up to me and say, ?Wow, you?re including the graffiti in your paintings?? and I learn a bit of local lore,? says Larko. ?I?m an urban archeologist. There are layers to the places I visit and you don?t get to know that stuff unless you?re there.?
?Valeri Larko: Tanks, Trash and Graffiti? opens tonight, Nov. 16, with a reception from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Majestic Theater Condominiums, 222 Montgomery St. For more information, visit ValeriLarko.com.
Photos courtesy of Valeri Larko
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