Dan's Cover Artist Chris Lucore Explores Paint Collage

The first Dan’s Papers cover of 2024 features cover art by Montauk gallerist/artist Christopher Lucore. Here, he discusses the inspiration for his featured “Behind Closed Eyes” collage, how managing The Lucore Art gallery has influenced his own art, and his personal highlight of 2023.

A Chat with Christopher Lucore of The Lucore Art

 What inspired you to create your “Behind Closed Eyes” artwork, and what themes or emotions did you set out to explore with it?

“Behind Closed Eyes” reflects the landscape in my dreams. I do not typically have vivid dreams, but if I did, I am sure this is where I would end up. Mostly, I wanted to see what would happen if I took everything I had and threw it at the canvas, and I mean that literally.

Over the past two years, I have been creating sheets of paint and cutting pieces to fit my compositions. This generated a lot of “scrap” — all the cut-away parts of the sheets that I didn’t use. So, I saved all this up until I had pieces of every color of the rainbow with every type of edge shape imaginable, and then I challenged myself to make it all make sense.

I knew I wanted it to be landscape-like, and I knew how I wanted to structure it, but it took on a life of its own during creation.

 What did the creation process of “Behind Closed Eyes” entail?

This piece is a collage made from scraps, so obviously step one was to pile up all that gold. This happened over the course of two years of dedication to my process working with these paint sheets. From then on, it was a four-step process.

First, I had to figure out what I was working with, so I sorted the pieces by size and color and laid them out all over the gallery floor.

Step two is where “Behind Closed Eyes” was truly born. Here I just started picking pieces off the floor and laying them on the canvas until I had full surface coverage. I knew I wanted an overall rainbow fade, but this was where I really had to look at what I had and let the pieces tell me what they were meant to be and where they were meant to go — like building a puzzle that doesn’t know what it is yet from pieces that don’t know where they fit.

Step three was chaos. Now I’ve got pieces laid all over the canvas, and I need to get them all off the canvas so I can stick them all back where they were in the same order/orientation.

Step four was the outline. My outlines are very important to me; I see them as a form of meditation. This is fine and focused work. In this piece where all the lines were sort of naturally generated from the pieces I had on hand, I felt this step had elevated importance. It was my chance to claim all those lines as my own. It also brings everything into focus: all the color and contrast and chaos seem to snap into place.

This piece has a double outline, first black-painted with a brush, then pearl-piped from a bag down the center. This creates optimal contrast with colors on all parts of the spectrum. The construction of “Behind Closed Eyes” took me one month start to finish.

 How has working as a fine art gallerist influenced you and the art you create?

Working as a gallerist has influenced me tremendously. I see major parallels between the process of creating “Behind Closed Eyes” and the process of installing an exhibition. First, you see what you’ve got, then you see how it best fits the space — which piece belongs where and next to what. Then you lay it out and get it on the walls, and finally you outline it for everyone, providing the info for each piece and background on the artist.

Aside from that, being a gallerist has really made me feel connection to the art community. Our peers are art warriors with boundless creative energy, inspiration and feedback to offer. Nobody need feel like they are alone or creating in isolation; this is a space that thrives when we all push forward together.

 Looking back on 2023, what artistic achievement or moment do you remember most fondly?

The 101 Artist Holiday Bonanza was a big accomplishment — one piece from 100 different artist and a few of my own. It was rewarding when that show snapped into place. A real testament to the creative spirit of the East End and all the incredible artists I’ve been able to connect with in my short time here.

 What is one goal you hope to accomplish for yourself, your art career or your gallery in 2024?

I’d love to see another gallery take interest in my work in 2024. I have my hands full with painting, shows and the other 100-plus artists I’m attempting to collaborate with, but I probably have enough quality work to fill your space twice over. I’m here if you need me.

 Would you like to share any closing thoughts or any information about upcoming exhibitions at The Lucore Art?

Stay tuned: 2024 promises to be an exciting year with The Lucore Art! Stay connected with us on Instagram @TheLucoreArt for the most up-to-date information!

For more info about The Lucore Art gallery at 87 South Euclid Avenue, Montauk, as well as to see more of Chris Lucore’s art, visit thelucoreart.com.