from the press release:
Julia Schwartz’s new paintings came about not long after a studio was finished in her El Cerrito backyard. The first works she made in there, looking out the studio windows onto the then green yard behind (now summer-golden), were soaked in all that green; “it wasn’t until I turned my back to the windows that I found my footing”.
Many of these paintings share a structure: a kind of portal/gate/window. The title is from an lyrics to Elton John song, specifically a version sung by Lesley Duncan, including the line “love is the opening door.” For Schwartz, painting is, when it’s working, the opening door.
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024
the forgetting of the sunflowers, 2024, oil on canvas, 40x30 inches
remembering the palisades, 2024, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024
scintillating light trails from an electric dance dream haze, 2023, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024
kiss, 2024, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024
the opening door, Julia Schwartz, Et Al., San Francisco, 2024