Pittsburgh-area artist and preservationist Cory Bonnet created a series of sketches in service to his next oil painting. But when an area gallery owner saw the work, he was wowed by the imagery and implored him to show his collection.
Ever dash off a drawing so extraordinary it winds up in a gallery?
Yeah, us neither.
But that’s what artist Cory Bonnet did while creating his incredible collection of images depicting our industrial past.
The Pittsburgh-based oil painter and preservationist sketched a series of images depicting steelworkers on large sheets of butcher paper as a precursor to his next painting.
“I had an idea for a painting and didn’t want to waste time going to the supply store and lose the momentum,” Bonnet told Postindustrial, recalling how his latest collection came together.
“What I had around was this roll of brown butcher paper, the kind you put down on your floor if you paint a house or something, some India ink and charcoal.”
“And I was just like, ‘You know what? I'm just going to sketch this out. This isn't going to be a finished work. I'm just going to get this idea out.’”
What resulted was a collection of sketches that are raw yet full of life and expression that capture the passion of those whose labor built America.
Pittsburgh-area gallery owner Jeff Jarzynka took one look at Bonnet’s butcher-paper series and knew he had to show it.
“The immediacy of his mark making, and use of a minimal color palette, yields dynamic works which accurately express the essence of Bonnet's subject matter,” said Jarzynka.
The resulting collection of Bonnet’s work is currently showing at the Zynka Gallery through Dec. 22.
Now, let’s hear more from the artist:
I grew up in Pittsburgh and have been surrounded by industry my whole life.
Every person in Pittsburgh has a connection to the steel industry, whether it's an uncle or grandparent or themselves that have worked there.
And I'm the type of person that when I get curious about something, I go all in. So I started to really read a lot about steel, and it changed a lot of my perceptions of my growing up. I was here at the end of the industry, everything had closed. It totally destroyed entire communities when the mills left.
And when I was young, it was like, “Oh, they lost their jobs.” But then, after talking to former steel workers, and reading their history, I began to understand that it wasn't just jobs.
The people that worked in the mills were drawing a huge amount of fulfillment and meaning from their work that wasn't available in other careers in the area. They were making bridges, buildings, infrastructure, things that everyone uses.
They would point things to their children and say: “we built this.”
Cory Bonnet is a Pittsburgh oil painter and preservationist who paints contemporary, nostalgic scenes of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area using salvaged and reclaimed materials. The importance of sustainable development was a huge catalyst in defining his work.
