FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Regen Projects
633 N. Almont Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Tel. (310) 276-5424
Fax. (310) 276-7430
www.regenprojects.com
BILLY SULLIVAN: New Work
September 13 – October 18, 2008
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 13, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Regen Projects is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by New York based artist Billy Sullivan. Rendering paintings from personal photos, Sullivan emphasizes simple moments of serenity and leisure. These casual, yet intimate portraits continue Sullivan's exploration into the quotidian, giving the viewer a voyeuristic experience into the lives of his subjects.
In Sullivan's Klaus and Clarissa, 29 Palms, two subjects engrossed in conversation with their backs turned toward the viewer are portrayed. In this candid portrait they are unaware of the artist's presence, all the while shading themselves from the desert sun. Sullivan's vibrant palate and effortless brushstrokes evokes a subtle buoyancy that is both playful and accomplished.
In Colin Studying, the subject looks to be in mid-thought, as his intense eyes look straight past and almost through the viewer. Unaware, he is depicted with his head resting on one hand while the other plays with a pen. Sullivan's contrasting and vivid palate emphasizes Colin's features from his wild dark hair that is accentuated with blue and red details to his bright piercing blue eyes.
"Sullivan is a Warholian who navigates a river of communal Eros between its headwaters in personal romance and its delta-like exhaustion in society. He is a flaneur of his own and other people's entangling affections. Each person in one of his pictures has an aura of being cared about, if not ardently cared for. Sullivan obviously likes people on the whole and such as they are, but he is no Walt Whitman, rollicking around being "adhesive" with everybody. We sense that he politely ignores those, numbering most of the human race, who have no immediate claim on his feelings. His keynote is a semi-detached, acute sensitivity to the active stickiness that holds people to each other as well as to himself. He is always in the picture, emotionally."
(Peter Schjeldahl, "Fame Theory: Billy Sullivan's Photograhs," published by Artpix, New York, NY, 2001)
Billy Sullivan has been exhibiting since 1971 and recently mounted a survey exhibition with an accompanying catalogue at Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, NY, 2007. His work is included in several museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, and many others.
An opening reception for Billy Sullivan will take place on Saturday, September 13 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Showing concurrently at Regen Projects II will be new work by Los Angeles based artist, Raymond Pettibon. For further information please contact Stacy Bengtson or Jennifer Loh at 310-276-5424.
Regen Projects
633 N. Almont Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Tel. (310) 276-5424
Fax. (310) 276-7430
www.regenprojects.com
BILLY SULLIVAN: New Work
September 13 – October 18, 2008
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 13, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Regen Projects is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by New York based artist Billy Sullivan. Rendering paintings from personal photos, Sullivan emphasizes simple moments of serenity and leisure. These casual, yet intimate portraits continue Sullivan's exploration into the quotidian, giving the viewer a voyeuristic experience into the lives of his subjects.
In Sullivan's Klaus and Clarissa, 29 Palms, two subjects engrossed in conversation with their backs turned toward the viewer are portrayed. In this candid portrait they are unaware of the artist's presence, all the while shading themselves from the desert sun. Sullivan's vibrant palate and effortless brushstrokes evokes a subtle buoyancy that is both playful and accomplished.
In Colin Studying, the subject looks to be in mid-thought, as his intense eyes look straight past and almost through the viewer. Unaware, he is depicted with his head resting on one hand while the other plays with a pen. Sullivan's contrasting and vivid palate emphasizes Colin's features from his wild dark hair that is accentuated with blue and red details to his bright piercing blue eyes.
"Sullivan is a Warholian who navigates a river of communal Eros between its headwaters in personal romance and its delta-like exhaustion in society. He is a flaneur of his own and other people's entangling affections. Each person in one of his pictures has an aura of being cared about, if not ardently cared for. Sullivan obviously likes people on the whole and such as they are, but he is no Walt Whitman, rollicking around being "adhesive" with everybody. We sense that he politely ignores those, numbering most of the human race, who have no immediate claim on his feelings. His keynote is a semi-detached, acute sensitivity to the active stickiness that holds people to each other as well as to himself. He is always in the picture, emotionally."
(Peter Schjeldahl, "Fame Theory: Billy Sullivan's Photograhs," published by Artpix, New York, NY, 2001)
Billy Sullivan has been exhibiting since 1971 and recently mounted a survey exhibition with an accompanying catalogue at Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, NY, 2007. His work is included in several museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, and many others.
An opening reception for Billy Sullivan will take place on Saturday, September 13 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Showing concurrently at Regen Projects II will be new work by Los Angeles based artist, Raymond Pettibon. For further information please contact Stacy Bengtson or Jennifer Loh at 310-276-5424.