Andrew Durgin-Barnes: Lizardscapes

Known for his earlier depictions of the city’s neglected corners and fractured neighborhoods, Durgin-Barnes now shifts his focus outward. In this new body of work, he captures the quiet presence of nature within the vast urban sprawl of Los Angeles through the immediacy of plein-air painting. Setting up his easel on sidewalks, hillsides, and roadside clearings, the artist commits to focused 2.5-hour painting sessions, responding in real time to light, atmosphere, and the subtle visual rhythms of the environment.

Rooted in the tradition of California plein-air painting, Lizardscapes offers a meditative counterpoint to the city’s relentless pace. Durgin-Barnes reclaims small pockets of wilderness including shrub-lined medians, sun-bleached lots, fragments of sky framed by power lines, and elevates them into luminous, contemplative compositions. These works reveal the living tension between constructed space and organic form, asking viewers to slow down and reimagine the natural world as it exists within and against the built environment.

Accompanying the paintings is a video component documenting the artist’s plein-air process. These intimate vignettes provide insight into the conditions of each site, grounding the works not only in gesture and paint, but in lived experience. With Lizardscapes, Durgin-Barnes continues his larger investigation of place, perception, and overlooked beauty, offering a uniquely grounded and personal reflection of Los Angeles.