The Optimist Gene: Bryson Gill Solo Show

The Optimist Gene
Bryson Gill Solo Show
December 2, 2011-January 1, 2012
GALLERY CLOSED DECEMBER 22-25
SF Chronicle Article

Triple Base is pleased to present The Optimist Gene, an exhibition of new paintings by San Francisco-based artist Bryson Gill.

Gill’s dedicated painting practice has consistently been focused on the tenuous relationship between abstraction and figuration. While in his past work, Gill has culled imagery from personal and historical references, for his upcoming solo show at Triple Base, Gill has created his own source material out of the simplest of materials—a blank sheet of white paper. Beginning with a “blank slate” allows the artist to create original compositions through a meandering process of cutting, ripping, folding and crumpling. Like a Rorschach blot, these resulting forms oscillate between abstract shapes and recognizable objects such as leaves and branches—exposing the often arbitrary, yet magical, part of the artistic process. These compositions are then collaged, photographed and painted with a trompe-l’oeil effect onto linen that has been under-painted with graphic patterns and painterly washes.

Gill’s newest series of paintings embody the way in which random acts and interactions can create both beauty and chaos. Referring to this new style of working, the artist claims. “I sort of think about making art these days like a dog chasing it’s own tail. And that makes me happy.”

Bryson Gill lives and works in San Francisco, CA and received his Bachelors in Fine Art from California College of the Arts in 2005. Gill has had solo shows at Co-Lab, Copenhagen, Denmark; Jace Gace, Portland, OR; Kayo Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT and Triple Base, San Francisco, CA. He has also been featured in group exhibitions at Baer Ridgway Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA; Galerie Davide Di Maggio, Milan, Italy; Galleri Kant, Espen, Denmark; Mahan Gallery, Columbus, OH, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA; and Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA. Gill’s work has been reviewed in The San Francisco Chronicle, Art Practical, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Flavorpill, and Artspeak.