A series of 7 award-winning paintings focus on the beauty and drama in the mundane, the impact of art in moments of crisis, and the important role of memory in a changing America. H.B. Wheaten spoke with Marlow about his work and this premise—Are the good old days happening right now?
by H.B. Wheaten —
No one ever thought ‘the good old days’ were good at the time they were happening. People in every era were going through all kinds of crises that seemed intolerable in their day.
Art often reflects the times in which it’s created. Such are the paintings of Iowa-based artist Paul Marlow, whose work first gained notice in 2014 in local gallery shows and museum exhibits. His paintings in oil, and more recently acrylics, are unapologetically nostalgic. But there is also a gritty honesty to them. Marlow’s current body of realist work has expanded to offer glimpses of American life that are equally wistful and dramatic.
Paul Marlow, Tornado Watch, Fall . 2018. Oil on canvas. 30 x 30 in. First prize in oils, 2018
Highlighting scenes from New York and Chicago, to his home city of Cedar Rapids, Marlow takes inspiration from American realist artist Edward Hopper, and hometown heroes Grant Wood and Marvin Cone.
In Marlow’s America, we see a Manhattan postal worker pushing an overloaded cart of Amazon delivery boxes past a cluttered construction site in Fanfare for the Mailman.
Paul Marlow, Fanfare for the Mailman - W 56th & 9th Ave NYC. Oil on canvas. First prize in oils, 2020.
He shows a mother and daughter walking hand-in-hand down Chicago’s Navy Pier, the summer before the mother’s death, in One Last Walk Together.
He finds beauty in the smoke and steam above the world’s largest cereal plant in Quaker Oats, February 9.
“I like to paint scenes that resonate with me,” said Marlow, “even though the subject may not be beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. In these paintings, I’m asking the viewer to appreciate the beauty in common, sometimes forgotten moments in everyday life. There can be miracles in the mundane.”
Paul Marlow, A Big OK …from USA. 2021. Acrylic on canvas. First prize in acrylics, 2022.
When you talk to Marlow about his work, you get the immediate impression that he cares very much about his subject matter.
“Painting is real work. To some, that may seem overblown, but it takes a great deal of time, at least the way I paint. That’s why I have to get into the subject, feel emotionally connected to it. That’s when you create your best work.”
“It really is like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on. I want to inhabit the scenes that I paint, or at least visit for awhile.”
“There's something about nostalgia that really puts a fine point on the here-and-now, and that can be incredibly interesting and thought-provoking. It really is like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on. I want to inhabit the scenes that I paint, or at least visit for awhile. It’s my hope that the viewer feels the same way. Looking back is a way to sharpen the focus on the things that are meaningful.”
Paul Marlow, One Last Walk Together. 2019. Oil on canvas. Second prize in oils, 2019
“One aspect is very important: Everything I create is very personal. In relation to artistic expression, it’s very important to say that I was and still am hyper-subjective. I came to painting on a very naïve path. The very first exhibition that I saw was in Chicago, when I was twenty. The work was astounding. Several years later I saw the big Winslow Homer/Edward Hopper show at the Chicago Art Institute. That exhibition drew the largest audience the CAI has recorded to this day. Edward Hopper’s work was especially inspiring. It had a big impact on me.”
Paul Marlow, Long Shadows on the Short Farm. 2019. Oil on canvas. Third prize in oils, 2019
There is an autobiographical element in his paintings. “Since I’m well into middle age, it’s very important to revisit the places, feelings and emotions of the past. That’s where nostalgia comes to play.”
“I also see myself as a chronicler. My paintings try to encapsulate our time.”
Shadows are an important element in every one of these paintings. They are literally the main subject of Long Shadows on the Short Farm, a work which captures the last lingering moments of daylight on an Eastern Iowa farm. Marlow employs the use of shadows not only to build drama, but to imply a sense of foreboding and apprehension.
Paul Marlow, Zoey’s Pizzeria. 2019. Acrylic on canvas. First prize in acrylics, 2020.
He uses shadows such as these to great effect. Two paintings in particular, Zoey’s Pizzeria and Quaker Oats, February 9 feature compelling shadows in the foreground that completely alter the mood of each work. “The focal point of Zoey’s Pizzeria,” explains Marlow, “is not the pizzeria itself, but the shadow of the light pole on the wall.” Incidentally, a copy of the painting may be seen hanging above one of the booths in the pizzeria. The owner of the building bought the original and a giclée print to hang in the restaurant.
Paul Marlow, Quaker Oats, Sunrise, February 9. 2017. Oil on canvas. Second prize in oils, 2017
“The 7 works you see best represent my work over the last 6 years. When you’re able to see these paintings together—they form a whole narrative.”
Marlow’s decades of experience in the field of video production has also influenced his art, he says. “Imagine you’re viewing the paintings like they’re in the middle of a movie, almost like a still frame. There’s a story before and after what you’re seeing, but it’s not given away. Sometimes I don’t even know what the story is. My hope, though, is that the viewer take up the idea and make their own interpretations.”
What does Marlow see in his creative future?
“In the past, I have described different styles of painting as similar to speaking in different languages. I greatly admire abstract painting—geometric abstraction especially. I’ve explored those forms of expression myself, and I expect to return to it, when I have something meaningful to say.”
“But as for my work right now, at this point in my life and at this turbulent time in history, it is important for me to paint in a realistic style. You could say that I am trying to capture things today that I will be nostalgic about in the future.” Marlow reminds us that, “The ‘good old days’ may be happening right now.”
H.B. Wheaten is a freelance writer and erstwhile art critic for numerous periodicals and art journals for over a decade, specializing in Post-War and Contemporary Art, Impressionist and Modern Art, Old Masters, and American Paintings.