ECHOES OF THE PAST ON THE WALL AT ECHO
Travis Radcliffe’s ‘Monmouth Street,’ one of 18 of his pieces on display at Echo through the end of the month.
One glance at the above painting, and we were transported back to the lonely world of Edward Hopper. There’s an echo of Hopper’s Early Sunday Morning, isn’t there? And not just in subject matter.
“Hopper is a very big influence,” says painter Travis Radcliffe. In his own work, “there are a lot of pieces that are kind of peering into the subject’s mind while they’re in a contemplative state.”
Radcliffe, who’s 27, grew up in Tinton Falls, graduated from Brookdale and went on to get a BFA at Rutgers Newark. He now lives in Ocean Township and, until he can paint full-time, is a bartender at Merrimakers in Sea Bright.
He’s got a show on the walls currently at Echo, just a few blocks east of the Monmouth Street facade shown above.
Most of Radcliffe’s stuff is in the realistic mode, he tells redbankgreen, but just shy of photorealism, and two-thirds of the 18 pictures in the exhibit reflect that. But there are also some color studies and a collage.
We’re curious to see how much Hopper might be found in his other works. Vermeer, too; Radcliffe says he’s also helped shape his approach.
The show’s up until June 30. Stop in, grab a cold beverage, and check it out.