RICHARD BRULAND Peripheries January 21 – February 25, 2017 Lora Schlesinger is pleased to announce Richard Bruland’s fourth solo-exhibition with the gallery. Peripheries features new abstract paintings by the artist. The exhibition opens with the artist’s reception on Saturday, January 21 from 5 – 7 pm and is on view through February 25, 2017. Richard Bruland’s new abstract paintings explore the relationship between the edges and the center of his panels. Peripheries are resolutely abstract, and are a departure from his previous body of work resembling atmospheric landscapes. The edges of his paintings are emphasized with diffusing bands of color, encasing the nebulous surface with a diaphanous rim. Each painting is an accumulation of many layers of acrylic paint fused together to create a marbled effect. Bruland approaches painting spontaneously and intuitively, reactively building and removing layers of paint that are manipulated using a reductive approach. From a distance, the surfaces completely dissolve into a hazy color fields, at close range they are surprisingly complex forcing the viewer to zoom in and discover swirling bands of color and texture. Richard Bruland studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of Arts. His work has been exhibited in California since 1988 and he is represented by galleries throughout the United States.
Geeshie Wileymoan, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 36 x 36"
The Ragged Mile, 2015 acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30"
Sirena, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30"
On and On, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30"
On and On (detail)
Trigger, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 18 x 18"
Doesideaux, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30"
Strange Glory, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 18 x 18"
Grito, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 18 x 18"
Heads-Up, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 24 x 24"
Halasta (Njava), 2016 acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30"
June, 2017 acrylic on wood panel 24 x 24"
The Desert Shore, 2010 acrylic on dibond 16 x 96"
Banjoreno, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30"
Boomba, 2016 acrylic on wood panel 18 x 18"
Bella Andajina, 2016 acrylic on panel 30 x 30
RICHARD BRULAND EDUCATION California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA. BFA The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. EXHIBITION HISTORY – SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 2014 2012 2010 2007 2006 2005
2004 2003 2001 1999 1998 1997
Peripheries, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Continuum, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA New Paintings, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA New Fades, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Reflections: Forms & Fades, Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland. OR (Tandem solo) Richard Bruland / Steve Klein, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA (Tandem solo) Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica Richard Bruland” – Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR Solo - Mt. San Jacinto College Gallery, San Jacinto, CA Fades - Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica Shadows & Fades - An Evolution From 1990 to 2005, LA Artcore, Union Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA Airs & Fades, Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica, CA East of Western, Gallery 825 Bergamot Annex, Santa Monica Lines & Shadows & Fades (Oh My!), Ojala Gallery, Echo Park, CA Shadows & Fades, Gallery 825, Los Angeles Shadows & Lines, Don O’Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles New Paintings, Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA Selected Works 1990-1998, SITE Gallery, Los Angeles New Works, LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Los Angeles Paintings, LA Artcore Center, Los Angeles
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 2013 2012
ABSTRACTION Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Summer Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica Small Paintings, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica Tarfest, E. Annex Gallery, Variety Building, Los Angeles, CA Artists Invitational, Conley Gallery, California State University Fresno Summer Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica 2011 Abstraction” group show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica 2010 small works” group show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica Shades of Blue, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica 2009 Marked Intensity, Mt. St. Mary’s College Gallery, Los Angeles Introductions… Lanning Gallery, Sedona AZ Summer Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica 2008 Tarfest, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles. Juried by Howard Fox, LACMA New Directions (3 person show), B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY Little Light (3 person show), 98ten Fine Art, Irvine, CA. Curated by Sarah Park 2007 Open Show 2007, Gallery 825, Los Angeles. Juried by Howard Fox, LACMA Winter Biannual, LAAA South, Hermosa Beach, CA. Juried by Susan Cross Haus Guests, Brewery Projects, Los Angeles. Curated by Bill Rabe & Nina Amsler
2006
Introductions 2006, Davis and Cline Galleries, Ashland, Oregon Saturation & Surface, Gallery 825. Juried by Nancy Silverman-Miles 2005 In The Abstract, Gallery 825, Los Angeles. Juried by Carl Berg Incognito, Santa Monica Museum of Art 2004 Between 1-10, Gallery 825, Los Angeles. Juried by Jack Rutberg White Planes, Gallery 825, Los Angeles. Juried by Michelle Isenberg 2003 National Juried Exhibition, Palm Springs Desert Museum. Juried by Gordon Fuglie Things D’Art”, Gallery 825, Los Angeles. Juried by Mark Greenfield L.A. Metro, University Gallery, Clarion University. Clarion, PA 2002 Big Wave IV, Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles . Curated by Young An Pacifically Designed, Gallery 825, Los Angeles The Valentine Show, L.A. River L’il Frogtown Gallery, Los Angeles. Curated by Frank Romero All Media Juried Exhibition, Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA. Juried by Ashley Emenegger What’s Really Going On?, Gallery 825, Los Angeles. Juried by Habib Kheradyar 2001 Nature as Source, LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Los Angeles. Curated by Lydia Takeshita 1999 Small Treasures, Don O’Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles. Curated by Don O’Melveny 1998 Rockies to the Pacific, SITE Gallery, Los Angeles. Juried by Llyn Foulkes and Roland Reiss Biennial, Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA. Juried by Jay Belloli 1996 Visual Rhythms, Coons Center Gallery, Occidental College, L.A. Curated by Hendrik Stooker 1995 Open Juried Competition ’95, Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA. Juried by Etan Boritzer 1994 Current Abstraction, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, L.A. Curated by Noel Korten 1993 Depayser, Artspace Gallery, Woodland Hills, CA. Juried by Joni Gordon 1992 Art & Critique, SITE Gallery, Los Angeles. Curated by Scott Canty Haunted Visions/Celestial Ecstasy, 801 N. Brand Gallery, Glendale 1988 Small Works, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA. Curated by Jim Starrett
Richard Bruland, “Peripheries” at Lora Schlesinger Gallery Newsletter: Exhibition Review By Megan Abrahams February 10, 2017
“Geeshie Wileymoan,” 2016, acrylic on wood panel, 36″ x 36″ Photo: courtesy Lora Schlesinger Gallery An aura of serenity pervades Richard Bruland’s most recent series of paintings: mysterious surfaces characterized by soft, modulated gradations built of complex textures and a palette paradoxically vibrant and muted at once. Bruland’s latest paintings invite the viewer in, pure abstraction steeped in nuance with a building intensity at the borders, as suggested by the show’s title, “Peripheries.” From a distance, the works seem almost granite-like, comprised of diffused combinations of color and light. Up close, the paintings are revealed to be complex multi-layered textured compositions with intricate “peaks and valleys” and colorfully “chaotic details” carefully orchestrated by the artist.
Installation view. The series leverages the unique properties of the acrylic medium through an elaborate method devised by the artist. Bruland begins with gesso, followed by a layer of gel mixed with pigment, which he manipulates into a complex honeycomb texture. This pattern has a personal symbolism for artist, referring back to his service in the Navy as a young man, “swabbing the deck,” when he found inspiration from the fleeting patterns of the soap bubbles on the floor. These works are the products of the artist’s informed intuition and willingness to let go of what he learned in art school. “The more I gave up control, the more the paintings started looking like me,” said Bruland in a private walkthrough of his exhibit. Evolving from a multi-step process, the paintings involve a sequence of layering to build up and sanding to strip away, culminating with fine details added with a brush. On top of this textured surface, Bruland drags successive colors between strips of masking tape affixed horizontally and vertically in turn, producing what he describes as a, “subliminal suggestion of some kind of underlying structure, a tilted grid.” It’s the tension between the calm enigmatic façade and inner layers of frenzy that gives these paintings both contrast and intrigue.
—MEGAN ABRAHAMS
Geeshie Wileymoan (detail)