Van Arno, “Marie Antoinette” Oil on Canvas, 48×36″ 2024

Van Arno is an intrepid contemporary painter with a firm foundation in the classics – even if you can’t detect all of his historical references, the artist’s paintings are still refreshingly avant-garde. His solo show Tame Nor Sane is on view at the SG Project Space through June 1st. Having coined the term uber-mannerist, the academic postures of Van Arno’s well-molded figures also depict rubbery contortions and a plastic pliancy. In our exclusive interview, we get an inside look into Van Arno’s fixation with the female form, his latest venture in street art, and reworking the ‘genre’ painting.

Tame Nor Sane
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery Project Space
886 Geary
San Francisco, CA

Follow the jump for the full interview.

The majority of subjects in your work are women. What is your preference for choosing to portray the female form? Is it more classical, more graphic, or more shocking in any way?

The female form has always been popular in art from every culture. It’s been the inspiration for grace and beauty for thousands of years, so it’s fun to tweak that preconception. Also, I find women to be more interesting in situations of conflict. Marie Antoinette bulldogging a rhino is more interesting than Louis XVI doing it.

Van Arno, “Tar Baby” Oil on Canvas, 48×24″ 2024

There are both modern and historical elements juxtaposed in your figures, such as the woman donning an Elizabethan wig and fetish corsette. What’s your intention in mixing popular culture with traditional references?

I like to use historical ( and mythological, and biblical ) references as a jumping off point, because everyone has some level of knowledge about these things. Most people know that Marie Antoinette was the queen of France and had tall white hair. That is about it. If the viewer happens to know that she kept a zoo at Versailles, then the painting has more relevance, but you don’t have to know that to enjoy the piece. The piece is also about the juxtaposition between the woman and the rhino, the composition of their forms, the texture of their skins. You don’t have to know a lot, but if you do, there are more layers of meaning.

Van Arno, “Yoga Macabre” Oil on Canvas, 24×36″ 2024

The painting of the young woman and skeleton draws from the classic ‘Death and Maiden’ theme. What is the meaning behind the extreme contorsion and symbolism of this piece?

I wanted to do a “Death and the Maiden” image for a long time, but I wasn’t sure how to put my stamp on it. I like to rework ‘genre’ pieces- subject matter that has been done and redone for centuries. I’ve also had a long fascination with contortion, because of the physical extremity I like to depict in my work. I did loads of drawings before I worked out the composition. The symbolism of “Death and the Maiden” is always mortality, and so is my version, but replacing the original dancing theme with yoga gives the mortality symbolism a wry twist.

What’s it like to be an art professor who paints such directly erotic art? Are you ever concerned your students may be too conservative to appreciate such confrontational art?

I’ve never considered my work erotic. I’m invited to be in lots of erotic art events, and I always turn them down. What I do is nudity in the classical tradition of western art. In the painting “Tar Baby” I replaced Uncle Remus’ rabbit and fox characters with nude female figures, but their behavior is consistent with the story. The rabbit is trapped and the fox is gloating. One could find this power dynamic titillating but it’s not an erotic painting.

What would be a dream project for you to do, if you had unlimited resources and time?

I recently worked on a mural project with the LA artist LydiaEmily. I really enjoyed working on such a large scale, and I would like to do more projects like that. Look at me! I’m becoming a street artist at 50!

Van Arno “Megan’s Violent Nature” Oil on Panel, 28×24″ 2024