Foad Satterfield
Overview
Satterfield's professional career as an artist began in 1973 when he committed himself to painting. Throughout the years, painting has been an ever-unfolding and expansive process for him; one that offers infinite possibilities for self-expression and limitless visual inventions.
His work explores and incorporates ontological issues, specifically nature's profundity and spiritual qualities. Satterfield has found that by just going outside, being still, quietly absorbing, and looking lovingly into what is real, exquisite patterns and relationships of textures, colors, shapes, and planes jump out at him. It is in those moments that the substrate of nature's delicate and complex interconnectivity is revealed.
He brings these impressions back to his studio and carefully considers how to treat them artfully and authentically, contemplating the scale, tone, and vision he wishes to create. In his words, "I ask myself: Is this concept compelling? Is it true for me? Does this idea have transformative possibilities for my audience? How will it contribute to the environment where it will be placed? Lastly, does it provide a measure of delight by just looking at it? When these factors align, my vision is ready to be conveyed." He then communicates all that he has meditated on through a series of works on paper, which in turn become large paintings. His focus is on the process-not on the result-for it is the doing that generates unexpected outcomes that seem fresh and unlabored.
"When working, the rules become simple for me as the artist: I make a mark, another, and do not question whether the marks are right or not. I simply trust myself, and remember my experience in nature. The process that surrounded me outside is exactly the same process happening in my studio at that very moment. As such, the material things I observed and my imagination merge, and by using my chosen tools of brush and paint, quite powerfully, the invisible becomes visible. Through this path-critical examination, reflection, visualization, initiation, application, gestation, and culmination-my paintings become objects capable of creating their own highly charged aesthetic atmosphere. They also present an opportunity for viewers to simply be, and to use their interaction with the work as a catalyst for reflection and contemplation."
Judy Halebsky, poet, writes for Foad's work: "It offers dynamic tension of energy and stillness, capturing fixed moments within the octant motion of our surroundings. Wildly energetic brush strokes meet with intense, emotive depth of color. Rich earth tones of forest greens, muted browns, and mud yellows are layered with contrasting, vibrant hues of verdant greens and light-filled reds. Within vigorous compositional structure, the paintings also offer a place of rest. At times, this pause is presented as white space through bare canvas or white paint applied over other layers. This space is a moment of stillness within the paintings, challenging the viewer to enter a contemplative, aesthetic experience."
"My reflections often return to long forgotten memories, the certainties of those physical spaces that define me and give shape and contour to my life and are for me sacred. Even when that familiar geography no longer exists, I am left with the interior roads and markers of what was once corporeal," says the artist of his latest exhibition.
"As luscious abstractions, this work presents underlying motifs gleaned from a lifetime of memories: love, trauma, disappointment – the human exhilaration of living permeates the canvas. Human emotions are conveyed through the use of a warm and earthy palette. Compositions are accented with delicate combinations of warm and cool hues that speak directly to an innate sense of sensual transitions. Visual relationships calling and responding to organic pictorial elements surge with energy and movement. Content and Context share and reciprocate in carrying the physical scale of this theme. (A large)Diptych format is used to isolate, separate, and focus this visual narrative on its parts, while maintaining the unity of the whole. These paintings are made intentionally without top / bottom orientations. One can move from right to left or reversed, yet still follow a visual narrative of a mysterious and scintillating journey. “I want to directly speak you to your heart, to move you emotionally. I Invite each viewer to look beyond the surface of the canvas and submit to an ineffable human experience.”"
Works
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Foad SatterfieldYellow, Green, MagentaAcrylic on canvas72 x 96 inches full diptych -
Foad SatterfieldHomage To OAcrylic on canvas48 x 48 inches
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Foad SatterfieldWhat MattersAcrylic on canvas36 x 72 inches
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Foad SatterfieldLake View (Lillie Pad III)Acrylic on canvas
46 x 64 inches -
Foad SatterfieldStickAcrylic on canvas72 x 48 inches
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Foad SatterfieldHomage To IreneAcrylic on canvas48 x 48 inches
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Foad SatterfieldPrescientAcrylic on canvas64 x 60 inches
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Foad SatterfieldMade To LookAcrylic on canvas36 x 60 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy IAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy IIIAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy IVAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy VIAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy VIIAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy IIXAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldStudy IXAcrylic on canvas20 x 16 inches
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Foad SatterfieldCrescent "Pink"Acrylic on canvas72 x 48 inches
Exhibitions
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Foad Satterfield | Present by Past
15 Jun - 30 Jul 2022Maybaum Gallery is pleased to present Present by Past , our second solo show for Bay Area artist Foad Satterfield. Satterfield's recent work is a re-contextualization of previous explorations emphasizing...Read more -
Recent Paintings by Foad Satterfield
3 May - 30 Jun 2018Read more
Biography
2025
FOREVER YOUNG, 110’TH GALLERY ANNIVERSARY, Studio Shop Gallery, Burlingame, CA
GIFT OF ORDINARY TIME, Solo Exhibition, Studio Shop Gallery, Burlingame, CA
36TH EMERYVILLE CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS JURIED EXHIBITION, Emeryville, CA
AL FRESCA, GARDEN OF DELIGHTS, Foad Satterfield & Katy Kuhns, Studio Shop Gallery, Burlingame, CA
STUDIO SHOP GALLERY REOPENNING, GALLERY ARTISTS EXHIBITION, Burlingame, CA
37’TH EMERYVILLE CELLEBRATION OF THE ARTS JURIED EXHIBITION, Emeryville, CA
SPACES BEFORE US - UNRESTRAINED, Malin Gallery, Aspen, CO
36th EMERYVILLE JURIED EXHIBITION, Emeryville, CA
IN RETROSPECT 2, 575 Sansome, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Events
News
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Articultures | Foad Satterfield | Then Is Now
March 28, 2024Read more -
Foad Satterfield Acquired by Crocker Museum
February 7, 2024Maybaum Gallery is pleased to announce Crocker Museum has acquired 'Untitled Yellow' by Foad Satterfield into their permenant collection. Satterfield's professional career as an artist...Read more -
Inside Out: In Conversation with Foad Satterfield
Burnaway Magazine June 23, 2023Read more -
BOMB | Foad Satterfield Interviewed by Annabel Keenan
May 11, 2023Read more -
SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART | FOAD SATTERFIELD: THINGS KNOWN
February 28, 2019Beyond Landscapes: Art, Identity and Mindfulness February 21, 2019 - 4:30 - 5:30 pm Foad will discuss his ongoing exploration of nature, his formative years...Read more
