A stone’s throw from a rusting freight rail sits an unlikely, one-story, stone building. Juxtaposed between the former factory buildings of a hosiery company, Ovvio Arte looks more like a magical hobbit cottage than the gallery, studio and performance space it houses. It is also home to artist Jonny Silva’s first one-man show, Family Tree.
Family Tree is a somewhat unsettling collection of acrylic paintings that are somewhere between the classic painting American Gothic and the characters of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. The people in these strangely haunting paintings give the impression that something is not quite right. His characters look uncomfortable in their own skin, something Silva wants viewers to interpret on their own terms.
The soft-spoken Silva, 33, is a modern-day Poindexter who possesses great intellect and, quite possibly, artistic genius. He is devoid of any arrogance or self-congratulatory mannerisms, and it’s obvious he is very comfortable talking about his work and lifelong love affair with art.
At age 14, he moved with his family from Los Angeles to four acres and a log cabin in Spring Hill. The radical change frightened the transplanted teenager, leaving a lasting impression on his psyche. “I was scared and felt very strange,” he says of the transition. “My work is always about the awkward displacement that occurs within the family,” he says.
It is Silva’s ability to capture discomfort and conflict that allows viewers to understand the art on their own terms. His use of exacting backgrounds, oddly placed objects and animals provides for many layers of interpretation. “I like to leave ambiguity for the viewer,” he says of his work.
Silva believes it is the paint that directs the nature of each work, feeding off the artist’s feelings. “Paint has a life of its own,” he says. “During the course of painting, I cry; I laugh; I have conversations—the painting itself is revealed as I go.” Silva paints in his studio behind the gallery at 427 Chestnut Street, a creative hotbed for other artists.
His characters remain in the viewer’s, mind, almost as if they are trying to tell you something or continue to provoke thought. Jonny Silva’s perspective of the untidy emotions of daily living is exactly the reason his star continues to rise among those who love art.
“I’m very much still a student. Art is a lifelong process. I want to be a good painter.”
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