SETH ARMSTRONG

About Seth Armstrong

The paintings of California artist Seth Armstrong combine the imagery of densely packed urban and suburban hillside homes and fluidly rendered flora. His work straddles a line between hyperrealism and more gestural mark-making, lending them a vivid quality which is enhanced by his vibrant use of color. Warm and cool tones capture the essence of urban landscapes as they appear at various times of day and seasons, and strike the viewer with an emotional impact.
Michael Abatemarco / Santa Fe New Mexican

Seth Armstrong’s folk-infused hyper-realism reflects his interest in the Dutch renaissance and California plein air movement of the early 20th Century; he uses oil paints to capture the delicate, crepuscular light of his native LA. Depicting vertiginous suburban neighborhoods, Armstrong imbues his pieces with a sensitive vitality. He plays with the affecting emotional quality of warm and cold light, sun and shadow, fascinated by the “way brick and concrete absorb light and heat all day and seem to radiate it back into the night air.”

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Armstrong was born in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles in 1983. He started painting early, creating colored marker drawings on large poster boards, these would depict chaotic battle scenes between imaginary stick-figure armies. As a young man, Armstrong moved to the bay area to begin his artistic education: studying for a BFA at the California College of Arts. Armstrong stayed in the bay area for nine years - with the exception of one year spent in northern Holland - before moving back to LA, his love for the city rejuvenated through absence. Armstrong’s treatment of light is heavily influenced by his interest in the Dutch Renaissance, it so happens that LA is the perfect city for this fascination to manifest itself.

Selected Exhibitions

2018   Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Lancaster, CA – Solo Exhibition
2018   Urban Nation Museum of Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2018   Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, HI
2015   Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana
2014   Urban Nation Museum of Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2014   Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, HI
2011   Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona