RICHARD COLMAN
KEEP OUT THE LIGHT
21 May 2010 to 02 July 2010
LOS ANGELES - Opening May 22, New Image Art Gallery presents "Keep Out The Light", a solo exhibition that features new paintings, sculpture and site-specific installations by Richard Colman. "Keep Out The Light" marks Colman's first solo exhibition in Los Angeles since 2007.
In this most recent body of work, Colman shows the struggles of the architect working "behind the scenes" of the elborate; both beautiful and claustrophobic among landscapes and artifacts. Richard's work demonstrates a unique language drawing on the intricacies of an Indian Miniature, to the antiquity of the more abstract and symbolic nature of Byzantine art. Colman's paterns have the repetition and geometry associated with Islamic tiles and mosaics. Narratives depict day-glo orgies, fusing the sinister with comical. A pantheon of internalized imagery and shared iconography comes into play in the shape of occult symbols, silhouettes, and rainbow sprays of color, piles of viscera, in a concoction of violence and ecstasy.
The subjects of his paintings - from the headless bears to naked men - are presented in a theatrical way, like actors in a play, standing in formation. The work captures the feeling of being frozen on stage, anticipating what will come next and never quite finding out.
The title of the show, "Keep Out The Light", references the density of Colman's work, as well as his obsessive work habits, serving as a sort escape for the artist. The works in this new exhibition exhibit the strength of obsessive patterning and imagery to drive away the delusions of everyday life.