Thoughts on my Artworks in “Dear Artists…Figurative — Physical Stories” at Band of Vices

November 18, 2025

“Dear Artists…Figurative — Physical Stories” at Band of Vices

“Like a novelist or filmmaker, I often create artworks based on observations of the human condition. Visual poetry crafted from moments of connection, inspiration, and reverie.” — Gregg Chadwick

Location: Band of Vices — DTLA, 1700 S. Santa Fe Avenue, Suite 371, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Opening Reception: November 15, 2025

On View: November 15, 2025 — January 3, 2026

Catalog available at this link: Dear Artists… at Band of Vices

Gregg Chadwick’s Paintings Available at Band of Vices — email

HELLO@BandofVices.com

424.284.9224

Thoughts on Lyrical Figuration and the Materiality of “The Physical Story”

There is a profound connection between my lifelong artistic practice and our current Band of Vices exhibition “Dear Artists… Figurative — The Physical Story”. In my artwork the physical act of painting directly maps onto temporal and existential narratives.

The inherent meaning in my art — the interplay of memory, time, and human struggle — is inextricably linked to the physical reality of the oil painting process. In the Band of Vices exhibition “Dear Artists… Figurative — The Physical Story”, the Figurative element of the title dictates the subject (the human form) , and the Physical Story dictates the narrative mechanism (the layered material history). In my art the human figure, rendered with veils of transparent color, functions as a visible archive of its own temporal history — its hopes and struggles made physically manifest in the oil layers. My physical engagement with the surface and the paint ensures that the creation process is synonymous with the resulting narrative.

The standardization of the 12x12 inch format within the Band of Vices initiative amplifies my core themes. The requirement to distill complex philosophical and social narratives into a small, physically approachable object cautioned us against a reliance on scale to create spectacle. Instead, the narrative intensity resides entirely in the density of the mark-making and the psychological depth of the figure. For me this small container forces an intimate interaction with the viewer, demanding that they engage in the “noticing” of the significant moment (Kairos). Works like Sacra Conversazione carry the historical and metaphysical weight of their title, yet are compressed into a democratic format, proving that substance can triumph over size.

My commitment to reflecting the 21st-century human subject — a collection of memories, struggles, and hopes layered over chronological time — finds its ideal physical representation in The Physical Story. My art provides clues to the exhibition’s implied question: the story of the figure is the physical story of how time, memory, and presence accumulate and reveal themselves through the medium of oil paint.

— Gregg Chadwick, November 2025

*Installation View of Band of Vices exhibition “Dear Artists… Figurative — The Physical Story”*

Founder and Creative Director Terrell Tilford Speaks With Guests at Opening of of Band of Vices exhibition “Dear Artists… Figurative — The Physical Story”

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