James Lipovac is a painter from Des Moines, Iowa who is currently based in Brooklyn. Lipovac focuses on the tactile material that underlies figurative painting to the point that fragments appear collaged, while the illusionistic depth is distorted, and the character of an overall flat surface expands through a series of sharp juxtapositions and conflicting perspectives.

The movement of angular planes appears in True Cross (2011) and captures a horizontal platform in the middle-ground, showing the back of a standing individual, with the silhouette of a larger crowd seen a short distance away. This piece alludes to the domain of subway transit, while squares of red brick appear above and yellow joints of construction, below. However these subjects are merely suggested since the artist leaves details obscure, forcing viewers to revisit their sense of place.

Baltimore Street Station (2011) is a fragmented block of planes that first appear to float in space. But the dark lines of a larger structural support extend toward the base of the painting and imply an oil platform that sits out at sea. Lipovac’s paintings utilize the notions of chance and probability as shifting contexts, veering away from the definite. Meaning remains open while the compositions are charged with symbiosis.

Since 2008 James Lipovac has exhibited in Delware and New York. In 2011 the artist’s work appeared in three group shows beginning with Duets at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts that occurred from May to August, The Chains at the CCCP Gallery in Brooklyn during May, and Sprung at The Texas Firehouse in Long Island City which was curated by Ava Hassinger. In 2010 Lipovac had a solo show titled Recent Work at the Louis L. Redding City County Building in Wilmington, Delaware. James Lipovac’s work is featured in the collections of the Sprint/Nextel Corporation, Vice President and Mrs. Joseph Biden, esq., the Delaware College of Art and Design and The Conservation Fund in Dover, Delaware.