Frank Webster, who lives and works in New York, is a painter who often inhabits places that are difficult to be in—from frozen glaciers in the Arctic to overbuilt suburban areas. In these seemingly different environments, he finds the poetics of a natural history as inhabited by humans. So even when his paintings seem to be of buildings they are, in a sense, existential landscapes. Above: Yfir Strauminn (Across the Stream), 2017. Acrylic on canvas, 90" x 38"

Webster’s interest in the northern landscape took hold during his first residency in Iceland, in 2016. Based on working from observation, on-site watercolor studies, and his photographs of various sites during summer days, he developed a body of large-scale paitings in acrylic on canvas, a selection of which is currently on view at the 527 Madison Avenue Lobby Gallery. Works based on his participation in the Arctic Circle Residency, Svalbard, Norway, in 2022, were seen last year at Isabel Sullivan Gallery, in Tribeca.

The following interview with Webster was conducted last week by email.

Peggy Roalf: As an artist who also teaches, you are probably often asked, “How do you decide on a subject to paint?” Could you tell the readers a bit about how you came to immerse yourself in the landscape of Iceland and the Arctic? 

Frank Webster: For most artists, subjects have a way of finding them. I think a desire for an expanded field of research and a curiosity about the natural world led me in this direction.

PR: As you became more interested in the Northern landscape from afar, were there any writers on the subject whose stories tipped the balance in favor of this environment as a subject? Above: Installation at 527 Lobby Gallery; photo courtesy of Jay Grimm—Art Advisory

FW: There is a lot of great literature out there that I’ve read but a book I remember being really interested in early on was Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. He received the National Book Award for that one back in 1986.

PR: In your solo exhibition of this combined body of work last year at Isabelle Sullivan Gallery, you showed a number of fully realized watercolor studies as well as the large paintings in acrylics. Could you talk about what it takes to go from the small watercolors you do from observation, on site, together with photographs of the subject and intermediate studies before [or while?] you’re developing the large-scale paintings on canvas? How do you maintain the sense of awe you must get when stepping off a ship onto a glacier floating in the sea for all the time it takes to paint one of these large pieces? Above: Seligerbreen, 2023. Watercolor & graphite on handmade paper, 11" x 30"

FW: Painting is about recapturing that sense of wonder in many ways. Taking time to study and get to know a place and develop an image of it into a large work requires a kind of patience bordering on reverence. We are bombarded with meaningless images. Maybe this is my way of taking control of that process for myself or a viewer—to make images slowly, thoughtfully and to reinvest them with meaning.

PR: In this body of work as a whole, it feels to me as if the solitude and silence of the places become more evident to the viewer than even the details of the terrain. Almost as if you’re also showing us something about time: how long you must stand in one place to understand your place at this particular moment during your time on this planet. Could you talk about your thoughts on this? Above: The Dark Valley (Glacial Moraine), 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 80” x 160”

FW: Geological time, the movement of atmosphere and light all contribute to a moment you are painting. Resting your eye on a subject and letting it reveal itself is part of this process of recording and sharing. All of these elements may take a while to coalesce into something you might want to capture. Patience but also dumb luck are both factors in this equation.

PR: How did you arrive at watercolor as your medium of exploration for these landscape paintings? 

FW: As a field tool it was practical to carry in a backpack and work with quickly. It allowed for greater engagement with color in my studies than drawing alone and forced me to stop and look instead of simply trudging on after randomly clicking a shutter. 

PR: Another thing I noticed that seems like a departure is that this northern terrain seems warm, even inviting. Was there a particular type of light at a particular time of year that informs this idea? Above: Installation, Paintings from Iceland, at Hathaway Contemporary, Atlanta Gallery, 2017

FW: One of the things I responded to most was the intensity of color and light. I was trying to capture the experience of being in that place without playing to stereotypes about that part of the world.

PR: Are there any landscape exhibitions coming up that you would recommend?

FW: The Egon Schiele landscape show at the Neue Galerie has just closed but Caspar David Friedrich is about to open at the Met. 

Frank Webster is a painter who lives in New York, NY. Webster received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Webster is the recipient of numerous awards including the NYFA Fellowship in Painting, the Pollock Krasner and the Golden Foundation Individual Artist Award. He has shown in solo and group exhibitions in New York at Isabel Sullivan Gallery, Blackston Gallery, Transmitter Gallery, Sara Meltzer Gallery and White Columns, to name a few. He has been awarded residencies at NES Artist Residency, The Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program, Painting Space 122, Virginia Commonwealth University, The Ucross Foundation, The Corporation of Yaddo, The Ragdale Foundation and The MacDowell Colony among others. In June of 2022 he participated in the spring expedition of the Arctic Circle Residency. Photographs © copyright and courtesy of the artist, except as noted

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