Greg Minah
My painting process might best be described as a collaborative performance between my creative force as an artist and the natural forces acting on the material. I make paintings by pouring thinned acrylic paint onto the canvas and then tilting, turning and rotating the stretcher to orchestrate the performance of the medium. Often, a layer is partially removed with pressurized water before it has a chance to cure completely, leaving only the outline of the poured paint and revealing the multi-layered construction of the work. Through careful mixing and testing of the paint, I control the colors, the basic shapes and the overall composition of the painting, but every step in this process yields something unexpected. I remain open to chance. I’m inspired by the working process itself, the constant give and take of my authorial intent and the unpredictable effects of gravity on liquid paint. When my expectations are betrayed I’m forced to reassess the direction of the work and that’s often when growth occurs. And although much of the initial painting is eventually covered over, every step in this process remains integral to the final piece as each layer is a reaction to what came before–a collective history of decisions and compromises, triumphs and failures. The finished painting is something like a symphonic moment suspended in time–a silent and static record of events with a significance that’s activated by your unique experience of the work. Meaning comes when you manage to let the mystery of it all precariously hang in the air like a smoke ring. Words, or even thoughts, can break it apart, stirring the air and interrupting its fragile form. Whatever it is, it belongs to you and may be impossible to share or even to recollect clearly. But it’s that moment of recognition, that fleeting and resounding occasion, that I hope the viewer experiences while looking at my paintings.
Born in 1978, Greg Minah grew up in Columbia, Maryland and graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2001 with degrees in English Literature and Studio Art. In 2009, Minah was honored as a finalist in both the Bethesda Painting Awards and the Trawick Prize. He received the top Individual Artist Award Grant in 2010 from the Maryland State Arts Council, and had ten paintings reproduced and permanently installed on an outdoor public wall in Arlington, VA, in 2011. In 2012, Minah was selected to exhibit at the US Embassy in Guatemala as part of the Art in Embassies Program and another public installation, Tunnel Vision, was installed in the Washington, DC Metro. Minah’s work has been included in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and can be found in public and private collections internationally. Minah currently lives and works in Baltimore, MD.
Available for:
Commissioned paintings
